Morphology, development and reproduction of Pyrgomorpha vignaudii (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae)

Pyrgomorpha vignaudii (Guerin-Meneville, 1849) is a pest of a wide variety of crop plants in Africa. To facilitate the search for a sustainable strategy against this pest, we have studied the post-embryonic development, morphology and reproduction on Manihot esculenta in the laboratory. Five-hundred and two larvae at the first stage of development obtained in the laboratory were individually reared in cages. Post-embryonic development passed through seven stages. The total number of days spent for larval development varied from 77 to 108. The mean duration of development of stages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 larvae were, respectively, 16.48 ± 0.43, 14.40 ± 0.55, 13.70 ± 0.61, 15.07 ± 0.84, 15.21 ± 1.31 and 16.21 ± 1.27 days. After the final molt, the females of P. vignaudii take an average of 12.7 ± 1.04 days before the first mating. The time between the first mating and first oviposition ranged from 14 to 34 days (averagely 25.2 ± 4.62 days). The females realized one to nine ovipositions during their lives. The number of eggs per egg-pods (ootheca) varied from 16 to 93 with a mean of 45.31 ± 3.51. Our results provide valuable information for the search for a control strategy against P. vignaudii.