The genus Digentia Stål, 1878 currently has four described species from the tropical forest areas of West Central Africa. Here, we describe a new species, Digentia viridissimasp. nov., and its natural habitat in the swamps of the humid forests of southern Cameroon. Additionally, we include a description of Digentia punctatissima (Stål, 1875) and redescriptions of Digentia rufogeniculata (Bolívar, 1911), Digentia fasciataRamme 1929, and Digentia karnyiRamme 1929. We also provide a key to identify the species of the genus.

The genus Pterotiltus Karsch, 1893 currently includes 12 described species from the equatorial forests of West and Central Africa. Here, we describe two new species from lowland forests of Southern Cameroon: Pterotiltus ngoylaensissp. nov., and Pterotiltus campoensissp. nov. We further describe two new species and the previously undescribed female of Pterotiltus minimus Ramme, 1929 from the highland areas of West Cameroon. These highland species share a suite of characters that distinguish them from Pterotiltus; these characters include structures of both the male and female reproductive systems, tegmina not completely regressed, and generally smaller size. To accommodate these differences between the species, we erect the new genus Parapterotiltusgen. nov. with P. minimus as the type species and include in it Parapterotiltus minimoidessp. nov. and Parapterotiltus bamboutossp. nov.

A new species of Burttia Dirsh, B. caerulea sp. nov., is described from the Nguru Mountains of Tanzania. It is the second species in the genus, both being restricted to Tanzanian localities. Both B. sylvatica , known only from the Uluguru Mountains, and B. caerulea sp. nov. are morphologically very similar in habitus and outer morphology, suggesting a recent speciation.

The endemic Catantopinae genus Mopla was described by Henry in 1940 from the Malabar region of South India. Henry described two species under this genus, M. guttata and M. rubra. The female type specimens of Mopla are deposited in the Natural History Museum, London, UK. There have been no further records of these two species since their description. Seventy-six years later, the first male specimen of the genus Mopla was discovered in the Western Ghats, Kerala, India, in 2016. This paper describes the specimen, thought to be of Mopla guttata, and reconsiders its systematic placement.

The East African forest genus Aresceutica Karsch is revised; there are now four valid species, including A. nguruensis, sp. n. from south eastern Tanzania. Aresceutica is extremely similar to the West African genus Serpusia; it differs only in the form of the prosternal tubercle and the detail of the phallic morphology. Two new combinations are proposed: Ptemoblax lemarineli Bolívar, 1911 = Aresceutica lemarineli (Bolívar, 1911), comb. n. and Aresceutica vansomereni Kevan, 1956 = Duviardia vansomereni (Kevan, 1956), comb. n.

Two new species of the euryphymine genus Phymeurus are described, one from Moroto Mountain, eastern Uganda (morotoensis n.sp.), and the other from West Central Tanzania, near Lake Tanganyika (kisuluensis n.sp.). The genus now contains 20 species, the majority in southern Africa.

Abstract The second known specimen of the genus Oshwea Ramme 1929 was captured in Southern Uganda; it appears to be the unknown male of O. dubiosa, previously recorded only from West-Central Congo. At present it seems best to retain it in the subfamily Catantopinae, though it differs from other members of that taxon in several anatomical features.

New species of the genera Mezentia Stål, Taeniophora Stål, Nautia Stål, Caenolampis Descamps and Inbiolampis n. gen. (all members of the Bactrophorinae Amedegnato 1974) are described from Costa Rica and Panama. The previously unknown male of Taeniophora rubrosignata Descamps & Rowell 1984 is described; its cereal structure links it to South American species of the genus, rather than to the other Central American species. A key to the Central American species of Mezentia is provided. New species: Mezentia prymnocerca, M. proracerca, Taeniophora pirrensis, T. santosi, Caenolampis copensis, Inbiolampis herediensis.

Newly discovered species of Central American bactrophorine grasshoppers in the genera Rhicnoderma Gerstaecker, Lempira Rehn (n. stat.) (from El Salvador) and Pararhicnoderma n. genus (from Costa Rica) are reported and/or described. The genus Rhicnoderma is reviewed, and keys provided to the described species of all three genera.

The tribe Bactrophorini of the Bactrophorinae is briefly reviewed. Two new genera are erected: Mayalina, and Hylaezentia. Three new species (M. cohni, M. teapensis and M. chajulensis) of Mayalina are described. A key to the genera of the tribe is included.A cladistic analysis of morphological characters indicates that the Bactrophorini genera fall into two well-supported clades. The first, (“Hyleacrae”, after its most basal member) has as its basal branches, the exclusively Amazonian Hyleacris and the Amazonian and Central American Bactrophora; as its crown group it contains all the remaining Central American genera except Mezentia. The Central American genera of the Hyleacrae fall into two lineages: first, the sister genera Cristobalina and Mayalina (the “Cristobalina genus group”) of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, and secondly the “Rhicnoderma genus group”, composed of four genera (Rhicnoderma Gerstaecker, 1889, Lempira (Rehn, 1938) and Pararhicnoderma Rowell, 2012, which occur from Southern Mexico south to Panama, plus the Panamanian endemic Panamacris Rehn, 1938, which is apparently the sister genus of Rhicnoderma).The second clade of the tribe (“Borae”, after its most basal member, Bora) contains four exclusively Amazonian genera, plus the fifth and most derived genus, Mezentia, which has both Central American and Colombian species. In the Borae there is a second basal genus, Silacris, and then a crown group consisting of three very closely related genera, Mezentia, Andeomezentia and Hylaezentia, here referred to as the “Mezentia genus group”.

Based upon a week's field work in northwestern El Salvador, we add 14 species to the list of grasshoppers known from the country, increasing the count to 24 species. Habitat notes and photos are presented for some.

Recent palaeo-oceanographic work (Ali & Huber 1910) shows that strong surface currents existed from the East Africa coast to Madagascar and beyond in the Palaeogene, making the rafting of masses of African vegetation possible during this period. Source Euschmidtiinae are common on the East African coast. The only African relative of the Miraculinae is the chorotypid genus Hemierianthus of West and Central Africa. This leads to the hypothesis that the Miraculinae are closer to the Chorotypidae than to the Episactidae, as suggested by Descamps (1973), which is testable by molecular systematic methods.

The Nicarchi (sensu Descamps 1976) are a group of flightless genera within the Vilernae, characterized by living on trunks of trees and by a series of mostly adaptive morphological features. They also have relatively wide thoracic sternal interspaces. It is shown here that this last is due to two processes: development of relatively wider thoraces and reduction in the size of the sternal lobes. The latter correlates with loss of flight and of the wings, as shown by a series of genera from within the Vilernae, and is associated with the atrophy and/or loss of the indirect flight musculature. A probable selective advantage of both processes is to increase the space available for the crop, the major organ of food storage and digestion.

Nicarchus enyalius Rehn (Ommatolampini: Vilernae) is synonomized with N. erinaceus Stål, leaving the genus monospecific. A redescription is given.The previously unknown male of Cryptacris costaricensis Descamps & Rowell is described, and the genus redescribed; its probable position within the Vilernae is reaffirmed, and it is newly recorded from Panama as well as from Costa Rica.A new species of Pauracris Descamps & Amedegnato, a genus previously known only from Colombia, is described from Caribbean Costa Rica (P. brachyptera). Christenacris Descamps and Rowell is provisionally transferred from the Ommatolampini to the Pauracrini.A new subspecies of Ateliacris annulicornis (Bruner) (A. a. pulchra) (Syntomacrini: Caloscirtae) is described from Western Costa Rica. It differs from the nominate form principally in the coloration of the male.The systematic position of Leptalacris Descamps & Rowell is reconsidered, and it is transferred from the Ommatolampinae: Clematodinini to the Eucopiocerae group.One new species (jagoi) and one new subspecies (chrysonota salazari) of Rhachicreagra are described from Costa Rica (Abracrini). Additional notes on Rh. gracilis Bruner, drymocnemensis Jago & Rowell and dierythra Rowell are given.

We used mitochondrial (12s, 16s) and nuclear (18s, 28s) ribosomal gene sequences to derive a phylogeny of the Eumastacoidea, with the aims of a) clarifying the position of the Proscopiidae with respect to the Eumastacoidea b) testing the phylogenetic hypothesis and classification advanced by Descamps 1973b for the Eumastacoidea, and c) deriving a time scale for the phylogeny based on molecular clock calculations. Four different analysis methods were employed: maximum parsimony, neighborjoining assuming minimum evolution, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analysis. The genes were analysed separately and after concatenation. The sample included 6 of the 7 families and 12 of the 31 subfamilies of the Eumastacoidea, and three proscopiids. We included tetrigoids (as outgroup) and tanaoceroids and trigonopterygoids to provide polarity.No analysis supported placing the Proscopiidae within any of the existing branches of the Eumastacoidea. Some placed the two taxa as sistergroups within a Eumastacoidea s. lat., and some indicated that they are separate superfamilies. We cannot distinguish between these two possibilities with the present data.Within the Eumastacoidea s.str. all of the groupings of subfamilies (i.e., families) proposed by Descamps were well-supported. Higher nodes of the phylogeny were in general only weakly supported. Descamps' suprafamilial groupings appeared in some but not all analyses. Of these groupings, the Cryptophalli (=Chorotypidae plus Episactidae) were not well supported, the Stenophalli (Eumastacidae plus Morabidae) were reasonably well supported, while the Disclerophalli (=Thericleidae plus Euschmidtiidae) were strongly supported, and additionally the Gomphomastacinae were associated with it. (The Euphalli, containing only the Indian family Mastacideidae, were not included in the analysis.)The sequence data did not allow the assumption of a molecular clock, and for this reason the nodes of the phylogeny could not be dated.