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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids (Orthoptera)

Order Orthoptera - Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Life Cycle · Internet References · Works Cited
brown-and-black cricket - Acheta domesticus - female Brachystola? - Melanoplus - female Texas Point-headed Grasshopper - Acrolophitus maculipennis - female Pine Tree Cricket - Oecanthus pini Syrbula admirabilis - male Tree Cricket - Oecanthus Orthopteran nymph. - Scudderia Melanoplus differentialis 092515 - Melanoplus differentialis - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Orthoptera (Grasshoppers, Crickets, Katydids)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
=Saltatoria
The treatment here follows primarily Orthoptera Species File (1)
In this and related orders, some authors tend to elevate categories such as tribes, subfamilies, etc. to higher ranks, while others do the opposite or remain more conservative. This has lead to an ongoing, often very confusing, inconsistency and instability in the literature.
Explanation of Names
Greek orthos (straight) + pteron (wing)
Numbers
>1,200 species in 256 genera in our area (2); over 20,000 species worldwide
Identification
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 allies
Ensifera - Crickets, katydids and allies
Range
worldwide except very cold regions; most diverse in warmer climates
Life Cycle
Metamorphosis gradual (paurometabolous); nymphs resemble adults, typically develop external wing buds, and live in the same habitat as adults, typically taking the same food.
In most crickets and katydids, the female mounts the male for mating -- 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. (3)
Mating Melanoplus grasshoppers:
Internet References
Tree of Life
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Orthoptera Checklist
Works Cited
1.Orthoptera Species File Online
2.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
3.Field Guide To Grasshoppers, Katydids, And Crickets Of The United States
John L. Capinera, Ralph D. Scott, Thomas J. Walker. 2004. Cornell University Press.
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by jvandyk, cotinis, John VanDyk, Robin McLeod, Jay Barnes, David Ferguson, Wisconsin Oecanthinancy, v belov
Last updated 10 October, 2012 - 9:13am

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