Studies on the chromosomes of the acridid grasshoppers Acrida turrita, Poekilocerus pictus and Chrotogonus oxypterus have led the authors to surmise that structural re-arrangements must have played a major role in chromosomal repatterning and karyotypic evolution. Moreover, the telocentricity noticed in the Cryptosacci was evident in the Chasmosacci without the presence of the metacentric chromosomes to account for the reduction in the chromosome number. Possible trends in the evolution are discussed.