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   This study is aimed to explore the fauna of grasshoppers and locusts (Orthoptera) within the county of Dasht-e Azadegan (Khuzestan Province), where is placed a vast plain with geographical coordinates of 47°42′ to 48°28′ E and 31°24′ to 32°57′ N. Sampling carried out since March 2015 until end of August 2016 using insect sweeping net and also light torch at eleven selected sites and continued for the duration of all seasons of each year every one month. The collecting sites were selected to cover the whole area in terms of climate, sea level, and vegetation. Referring to morphological identification keys and comparing the result with the type of material deposited at Hayk Mirzayans Insect Museum, out of 1770 specimens, four Families, 11 Subfamilies, 21 genera and 25 species enlisted. Out of which, one genus, and two species were discovered to be new to the fauna of Iran. Based on the yielded statistics, Aiolopus thalassinus is candidates as the most frequent species in the area.

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The decline of biodiversity, specifically of insects is one of the major topics in conservation biology. In several countries of Europe, recent studies have shown a severe decline in species number and biomass of insects. In most countries of much higher diversity, much less is known about the state of the insect fauna. In this study, we focus on the acridid grasshoppers of Iran as an indicator taxon for diversity decline in a high diversity region. We used data of two surveys to suggest a change in species number between 1963 and after 2000. In the surveys before 1963, the species diversity across multiple localities in Iran was much higher compared to more recent faunistic studies. While this data is not statistically analyzable as the sampling is not completely comparable, the trends show a clear pattern of decline, which likely reflects the reality, conforms well to individual observations of less frequent encounters in the field and matches global patterns of insect decline. However, more standardized quantitative surveys are needed to generate statistically analyzable data. Potential reasons for the observed decline are severe draughts as a result of global climate change, habitat pollution, and destruction for construction and mining and especially overgrazing. Management actions need to be urgently put into place to stop the negative trends. Future studies need to document and test if these are taxon-specific trends or universal patterns in the region.
 

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We here present the first record of Parawenhoekia aginapaica (Haitlinger, 1999) from Iran, which also represents the first record for the genus of the whole continent (Asia). The specimens were collected in association with an Oedipodinae grasshopper of the genus Aiolopus (Orthoptera: Acrididae). The genus Parawenhoekia Paoli, 1937 has only been known from three Mediterranean countries so far (Italy, Cyprus, and Montenegro) and hence our finding represents a large area extension. This study provides new metric and meristic data and supplements the current knowledge on the species based on new specimens of P. aginapaica collected from Khumeh Zar, Mamasani County, Fars Province, Iran. Photographs of important characteristics are provided. A key to the world species of Parawenhoekia is given.

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