JOURNAL OF ORTHOPTERA RESEARCH 2009, 18(1)

Vegetated inland sand dunes occupy thousands of square kilometers on the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States. Many of these dunes are found along rivers where during glacial times, west winds deposited sand from dry river bottoms onto eastern banks. One such dune system, known as the Ohoopee Dunes, is found along the Ohoopee and Little Ohoopee Rivers in eastern Georgia. Because the grasshopper fauna of these dunes had not been well documented, a faunal survey was initiated. Collections focused on sand dunes along the Little Ohoopee River. Twenty-two species of grasshoppers were collected in the scrub-like habitat of the dunes. Comparison of the fauna of this scrub habitat to scrub habitat in Florida revealed two different faunas. Eight species found in the dunes are typically restricted to sandy soils in the southeastern United States. Of these, several rare species including Melanoplus bispinosus, M. quercicola, (both new state records for Georgia), M. carnegiei, and M. stegocercus, were found to inhabit the Ohoopee Dunes. Diagnostic characters of the genitalia of M. carnegiei and M. quercicola are provided for the first time. Key word