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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Rock Crawlers (Notoptera) » Rock Crawlers (Grylloblattodea)

Suborder Grylloblattodea - Rock Crawlers

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited

grylloblattid - Grylloblatta bifratrilecta - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Notoptera (Rock Crawlers)

Suborder Grylloblattodea (Rock Crawlers)

Other Common Names

Ice Bug, Ice Crawler

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Notoptera, Grylloblattida

Numbers

close to 30 spp./sspp. (mostly undescribed) in our area (all Grylloblatta)(1); the second smallest insect order, with 32 described spp. in 5 genera total(2)

Size

15-30 mm

Identification

Slender, elongate; yellowish brown to gray in color. Wingless. Antennae long and filiform with 28 to 50 segments. Cerci long with 8 segments. Ovipositor sword shaped.

Larvae and adults may be confused with some crickets or with the phasmid genus Timema

Range

Japan, Siberia, nw. US & w. Canada

Habitat

High elevations, under rocks, at the edge of snow fields or on ice caves and in moss.

Food

Probably predaceous or feed on debris of other insects

Life Cycle

Poorly known. They take several years to mature.

Has 8 larval stages.(3)

Remarks

Active at rather low temperatures. Mostly nocturnal. They hide during the day, particularly when the temperature is above freezing.

Internet References

Overview (Meyer 2009)

Works Cited

1.	Updated checklist of the ice-crawlers (Insecta: Grylloblattodea: Grylloblattidae) of North America... Schoville S.D., Graening G.O. 2013. Zootaxa 3737: 351-378.

2.	Ice crawlers (Grylloblattodea) – the history of the investigation of a highly unusual group of insects Wipfler B., Bai M., Schoville S., Dallai R., Uchifune T., Machida R., Cui Y., Beutel R.G. 2014. Journal of Insect Diversity 2: 1-25.

3.	The Insects : Structure and Function R. F. Chapman. 1998. Cambridge University Press.

Contributed by George Waldren on 15 December, 2008 - 9:57am
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, ceiseman, v belov, gwcourt, Marci Hess, edanko
Last updated 25 September, 2023 - 9:38am

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