J. Appl. Environ. Biol. Sci., 7(7)26-30, 2017 © 2017, TextRoad Publication ISSN: 2090-4274 Journal of Applied Environmental and Biological Sciences www.textroad.com *Corresponding Author: Hameed Ur Rehman, Department of Chemistry, Kohat University of Science and Technology-26000, KPK, Pakistan Grasshoppers of Taxa (Insecta, Orthroptra, Acrididae) at Ahmad Abad District Karak Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Khalid Usman 1 , Shabina Gul 2 , Hameed Ur Rehman 3* , Khalid Pervaiz 4 , Hakeem Khan 5 , Saba Manzoor 6 , Tayyaba Maqbool 7 , Safia Gul 8 1 Department of Zoology, Hazara University, Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. 2 College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of the Punjab Lahore, Pakistan. 3 Department of Chemistry, Kohat University of Science and Technology-26000, KPK, Pakistan 4 Fisheries Research & Training Institute, Government of the Punjab, Lahore Pakistan. 5 Department of Genetics, Hazara University, Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan 6 Department of Botany, University of Sargodha. 7 Department of Biotechnology, University of Sargodha. 8 Department of plant sciences, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University Quetta Received: February 11, 2017 Accepted: May 3, 2017 ABSTRACT The grasshopper fauna from District Karak has been sampled during one survey of the area in January, 2016 to December 2016. In this paper five sub-families Oedipodinae, Acridinae, Gomphocerinae, Cyrtacanthacridinae and Eyprepocnemidinae, nine Genera and nine species of Acrididae were recorded during the survey are described. Family Oedipodinae was found the largest one comprising five species. There was noprevious records/data on the grasshoppers of the survey area (Karak). The maximum collection of acridids described here was collected at the grassland areas. Karakis one of the most heavily modified natural regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Since grasshoppers are a useful group for bioindication, it is important to acquire knowledge on their diversity in such environmental conditions. KEY WORDS: Karak,Grasshoppers, fauna, Family, identification. 1. INTRODUCTION Grasshoppers are largely phytophagous insects, they have been extensively studied on food selection in grasshoppers and these have been adequately reviewed by [1,2]. An overall majority of phytophagous insects restricts host plant use of a closely related group of plant species, sometimes even a single species [3]. Phylogenetic differences exist among grasshoppers in relation to host plant preferences [4,5]. For example, members of the acridid subfamily Gomphocerinae tend to have a preference from grasses, Cyrtacanthacridinae prefer forbs, and Oedipodinae eat both grasses and forbs [6,7,8]. The Acridinae are typically considered to be grass-feeders [9,10]. Very rarely a species in this subfamily will display herbivorous [11]. Orthoptera exists in terrestrial habitats throughout the world often associated with fields and meadows, though some species prefer caves, deserts, bogs and seashores. Members of both suborders (Ensifera and Caelifera) are generally phytophagous but many species are omnivores. Grasshoppers are included in the list of destructive crop pests with the family Acrididae alone having more than 100 species that are pests of agricultural crops and pastures. Among the described species, some are consistently rare, while others are common and widespread; still others show huge population variability, often becoming local and temporary keystone species, while entire communities of these insects may be essential to ecosystem functioning over a long period of time. Grasshopper species feed both on monocots and dicots [12]. Grasshopper assemblages (Acridoidea, Tetrigioidea and Tettigonioidea) in south-eastern Ethiopia consisted of 29 taxa, 26 of which were identified to species. Over 70 per cent of the species belonged to Acrididae and most of them were either pests or potential pests of cereal crops. Species richness, diversity and dominance within and between sites and seasons did not differ much during the 2- year period [13]. Acridids inhabited a wide range of ecosystems from 58 selected study sites in Tamil Nadu comprising a total of 37 species belonging to 2 families and 11 subfamilies during the period of the survey. The maximum species richness was recorded in forest ecosystem followed by wasteland, grassland and cropland. The diversity decreased with increase in altitude reaching a peak at 1100 MSL [14]. 26