Characters for Identifying Common Families of Orthoptera Suborder

Home , Acrididae, Anabrus, Camptonotus, Ceuthophilus, Conocephalinae, Differential grasshopper

Characters for Identifying Common Families of Orthoptera

Tettigoniidae - Long-horned Grasshoppers. Diagnostic characters: Long slender antennae; wings folded vertically over body; ovipositor well-developed and vertically flattened (often blade or sickle-shaped). Male stridulatory structure composed of modified forewing bases with file and scraper. Tympanum (“ear”) on foreleg tibiae.

Copiphorinae - Cone-headed Katydids Diagnostic characters: long, slender, cone headed, long slender ovipositors. Photo: Female cone-headed grasshopper, Neoconocephalus ensiger, showing very long ovipositor and the conical, elongate vertex of the head. These slow moving katydids are found in tall grasses and weeds. The mandibles are strong and can give a strong bite. They live in high grass and weeds, are rather sluggish, and sing only at night.

Phaneropterinae - Bush Katydids. Diagnostic characters: no spine on the prosternum; hind wing longer than forewing. Photo: Female bush katydid, Scudderia furcata, showing shortened forewing in relation to the hind wing, and the curved ovipositor. These usually occur along marshes and in wet brushy or weedy ﬁelds. They are usually green in color, but sometimes pink forms occur in the same species. Singing occurs in evening and night.

Pseudophyllinae - True Katydids. Diagnostic characters: distinctive oval, convex forewings; prosternal spine. Photo: The "True Katydid," Pterophylla camellifolia. True katydids are more arboreal than most tettigoniids. This is the species that sings "katy did, katy didn't" on warm, late summer evenings.

1 Conocephalinae - Meadow Katydids. Diagnostic characters: small, slender, greenish. Photo: Orchelimum gladiator, a meadow grasshopper. These are small, slender, long-horned grasshoppers commonly encountered along streams, ponds, or in wet grassy areas. Even though the family name implies that these have a cone head, the anterior vertex is not cone-like and does not extend beyond the basal antennal segment.

Decticinae - Shield-backed Katydids. Diagnostic characters: cricket-like, brown or blackish, short-winged, with pronotum extending back to abdomen. Photos: Male and female of the Mormon Cricket, Anabrus simplex. The male forewings are reduced to the stridulatory structure only. Most species are Western and include the famous Mormon Cricket, a serious pest of ﬁeld crops.

Examples of exotic katydids showing remarkable mimicry: leaf mimics from Cameroon, Brazil, New Guinea; wasp mimic from Costa Rica; lichen mimic from Costa Rica; twig mimic from French Guiana; a very large species from Ecuador with a thorned pronotum.

2 Gryllotalpidae - Mole Crickets. Diagnostic characters: Forelegs modiﬁed for digging; brownish, very pubescent; distinctive body shape. Photos: A large mole cricket from Russia and detail of the fossorial foreleg of Neocurtilla hexadactyla, the Northern Mole Cricket. These burrowing crickets occur in moist sandy or light soil, sometimes 15-20 cm below surface, usually near ponds and streams. Some species are pests on garden crops by uprooting the young plants and eating off the roots and basal parts. The males sing from subterranean chambers that amplify the sound; have tympana on front tibia.

Rhaphidophoridae - Cave & Camel Crickets. Diagnostic characters: hump-backed; very long antennae; almost always without wings. Photo: A cave cricket, Tachycines asynamorus from North Carolina. This is a large group of crickets with more than 100 species in the genus Ceuthophilus alone. Cave or camel crickets are found in caves, hollow logs and trees, and under rocks - where ever it is dark and moist. They are nocturnal.

Gryllacrididae - Leaf-rolling Crickets. long antennae; elongate ovipositor; wingless, brown or gray, lack tympanum. The single species of leaf rolling cricket in the US, Camptonotus caroliniensis, hides during the day in a rolled-up leaf sealed with silk spun from its mouth. At night they feed on aphids. (photo: BugGuide.net)

Stenopelmatidae - Jerusalem, Sand, & Stone Crickets. Diagnostic characters: Abdomen and head much wider than thorax; wings absent. Photo: The Jerusalem cricket, Stenopelmus fuscus. These Western crickets are interesting because of their morphology. They are usually large with large, robust head and abdomen and are found under stones or in soil.

3 Gryllidae - Crickets. Diagnostic characters: long antennae; front wings bent down sharply at sides; elongate, but needle-like rather than ﬂattened, ovipositor; all tarsi 3-segmented.

Oecanthinae- Tree Crickets. Slender, pale green or whitish. Photo: A snowy tree cricket, Oecanthus sp, male and female. Tree crickets are excellent singers. The song of one species, O. fultoni, can be used to approximate the temperature by adding 40 to the number of chirps occurring in 15 seconds. Females have serrate ovipositors and can damage twigs and stems of raspberry canes, for example, during egg laying.

Eneopterinae -Bush Crickets. Photo: A bush cricket, Orocharis saltator, male and female.

Trigonidiinae: Also called bush crickets. Photo: a small species from Venezuela. Brownish, grayish, or blackish, often with red head and pronotum.

Nemobiinae -Ground Crickets. Ground crickets are common in pastures, ﬁelds, and along roadsides. Photo: Carolina Ground Cricket - Eunemobius carolinus (photo: GubGuide.net)

Gryllinae - House & Field Crickets. Photo: Gryllus veletus, male and female. Brown to black; very common. Other species: Gryllus pennsylvannicus, northern ﬁeld cricket; Acheta domesticus, house cricket

4 Suborder Caelifera

Acrididae - Short-Horned Grasshoppers: Diagnostic characters: short antennae; tympanum on side of abdomen; ovipositor very short; typical grasshopper shape.

Cyrtacanthacridinae: Diagnostic characters: median spine or tubercle on prosternum; face vertical or nearly so in most species; hind wing often colorful. The genus Melanoplus has very many species. Photos: Differential Grasshopper, Melanoplus differentialis, Two-stripped grasshopper, M. bivittatus, Red-legged Grasshopper, M. femurrubrum, Migratory Grasshopper, M. sanguinipes, American Locust, Schistocerca americana. This species in particular used to be very injurious to crops. It would increases to tremendous numbers under favorable conditions and migrate great distances. In the 1870s great hoards would form that would darken the sky and cause plagues of locust on the Great Plains.

Oedopodinae: Diagnostic characters: hind wing brightly colored. They usually occur in open areas and blend in with the ground; when they fly the bright hind wing is visible. They often crack wings flight and are the only group that stridulates when flying. Photo: A common Minnesota band-winged grasshopper, Dissosteira carolina.

5 Romaleidae - Lubber Grasshoppers. Diagnostic characters: large, robust, short wings, otherwise similar to Acrididae, but apex of hind tibia with both inner and outer immovable spines (acridids with only inner spine, and note that each family has 4 movable spines or calcaria). Photo: A large lubber grasshopper from Florida, Romalea microptera, lateral and dorsal view showing the red hind wings.

Tetrigidae - Pygmy Grasshoppers. Diagnostic characters: look like a small grasshoppers, but with distinctive, prolonged pronotum projecting part-way over wings. Over winter as adults and commonly encountered in spring and early summer. Photo: Lateral and dorsal views of a pygmy grasshopper, Acrydium sp.

Tridactylidae - Pygmy Mole Crickets. Diagnostic characters: small size; forelegs modiﬁed for burrowing. Photo: Tridactylus minutus, a pygmy mole cricket. These small crickets burrow in soft soil near streams and ponds. They are very good jumpers. They have no tympanum and do not sing.

Proscopiidae - Jumping Sticks. Do not occur in the US. Photo: Proscopia geniculata from Ecuador and detail of its head.