Observations on Food Preferences of an Indian Grasshopper Acrida exaltata (Walker)(Orthoptera: Acrididae: Acridinae)

A laboratory study of food preferences of a common Indian grasshopper, Acrida exaltata (Walker), of the laterite zone of West Bengal, India, involved offering as food a total of 51 plant species belonging to 23 families. Of the 51 species, 31 were always rejected, with the remaining 46 either sampled briefly or eaten as food. Only 15 were regularly accepted as food. Plants of the family Poaceae were most preferred by A. exaltata.