Light dependent host plant choice, foraging and oviposition site selection in common Indian grasshopper Spathosternum prasiniferum (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

Artificial light at night (ALAN) has become a potent pollutant in recent days that can manipulate the biology of both flora and fauna. In this context this paper deals with three types of light sources to know how they can alter the host plant choice, foraging and oviposition site selection of an Indian grasshopper Spathosternum prasiniferum. The results clearly showed that variation in light sources can definitely alter the foraging behavior of the test insects. The most interesting finding was of the egg laying response. It was evident that they preferred a warmer area for egg laying. As in the control sets the light source was the natural light only, the grasshoppers were found to lay eggs more on the marginal areas of the cages, while in case of the warm yellow light exposed sets it was more on the central part as the soil heated up in those areas. On the contrary in case of cool LED lights they got confused as those light sources never corresponded with heat. Even though the present paper deals with preliminary data, it could be safely stated that ALAN has an alarming impact on the ecology and behavior of acridid grasshoppers.