Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Saltatoria
Classification follows
Orthoptera Species File; see Taxonomy Proposals topic
here.
Throughout the orthoptera, there is a tendency by some authorities to elevate some subfamilies to families, and by other authorities to demote families to subfamilies.
Explanation of Names
Orthoptera: from the Greek "orthos" (straight) + "pteron" (wing).
Numbers
Insects of Cedar Creek cites "1,082 species" in North America.
Worldwide, more than 20,000 species.
Identification
Characteristics of Orthoptera include:
hind legs long, modified for jumping
forewings (tegmina) hardened, leathery, spread in flight, covering membranous hindwings at rest
cerci (appendages at tip of abdomen) unsegmented
pronotum usually with large descending lobes on sides
hind coxae small and well-separated
hind tibiae with two dorsal rows of teeth
Two major taxonomic divisions:
Caelifera - Grasshoppers and related families
Ensifera - Long-horned Orthoptera, includes crickets and katydids
Life Cycle
Undergo Gradual Metamorphosis (paurometabolous development). Nymphs resemble small adults and typically develop external wing buds. They live in the same habitat as adults, typically taking the same food.
In most crickets and katydids, the female mounts the male for mating, shown in figure 16 of Capinera.
(1) This is apparently the primitive (original) behavior in Orthoptera. Short-horned Grasshoppers (Acrididae) have a contorted mating posture with the male mounting the female, but the abdomen twisted strangely. See Capinera,
Field Guide to Grasshoppers, figures 15 and 16.
(1) See this photo of mating Acrididae in the genus
Melanoplus:
Internet References
classification plus literature citations, synonym, and included taxa (Orthoptera Species File)
