Survival, Fecundity, and Population Growth of Melanoplus bilituratus (Wlk.) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in Relation to Date of Hatching

Abstract

In Western Canada, Melanoplus bilituratus (Wlk.) may hatch from early May to mid-July, depending on seasonal conditions. Little information is available on the relationship of time of hatching to population growth except that grasshoppers emerging too early in the spring may be destroyed by adverse weather that often occurs at this time (Shotwell, 1941). Also, it has beenassumed that grasshoppers hatching late in the summer mature too late to contribute much to general population growth.