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TAXONOMIC STATUS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOCUST: MORPHOMETRIC COMPARISONS OF MELANOPLUS SPRETUS (WALSH) WITH SOLITARY AND MIGRATORY MELANOPLUS SANGUINIPES (F.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Jeffrey A. Lockwood
Affiliation:
Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA82071

Abstract

Morphometric analysis of 16 body measurements of migratory and solitary Melanoplus sanguinipes (F.) and M. spretus (Walsh) was used to determine if M. spretus was, in fact, the migratory phase of M. sanguinipes. Migratory M. sanguinipes was found to be more similar to its own solitary phase than to M. spretus. Melanoplus spretus resembled migratory M. sanguinipes, but in 14 comparisons M. spretus differed significantly from both solitary and migratory M. sanguinipes. Despite the potential for environmental variation obscuring differences in morphology, the divergent morphometric characters of M. spretus and the phases of M. sanguinipes appear to justify the status of M. spretus as a true species.

Résumé

Des analyses morphométriques basées sur 16 dimensions corporelles de Melanoplus sanguinipes (F.) et de M. spretus (Walsh) ont permis de déterminer si M. spretus est en fait la phase migratoire de M. sanguinipes. Des migrateurs de M. sanguinipes se sont avérés plus semblables à des copnspécifiques solitaires, qu’à des M. spretus. Melanoplus spretus ressemble à des migrateurs de M. sanguinipes, mais 14 critères de comparaison indiquent que M. spretus diffère significativement aussi bien des solitaires que des migrateurs de M. sanguinipes. Bien que la variation environnementale puisse obscurcir les différences morphologiques, les divergences morphométriques entre M. spretus et les phases de M. sanguinipes semblent justifier la distinction de M. spretus comme une espèce à part entière.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1989

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