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Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids, or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, the Tettigoniidae are the only extant (living) family in the superfamily Tettigonioidea.
A spermatophore or sperm ampulla is a capsule or mass containing spermatozoa created by males of various animal species, especially salamanders and arthropods, and transferred in entirety to the female's ovipore during reproduction. Spermatophores may additionally contain nourishment for the female, in which case it is called a nuptial gift, as in the instance of bush crickets. In the case of the toxic moth Utetheisa ornatrix, the spermatophore includes sperm, nutrients, and pyrrolizidine alkaloids which prevent predation because it is poisonous to most organisms. However, in some species such as the Edith's checkerspot butterfly, the "gift" provides little nutrient value. The weight of the spermatophore transferred at mating has little effect on female reproductive output.
Ensifera is a suborder of insects that includes the various types of crickets and their allies including: true crickets, camel crickets, bush crickets or katydids, grigs, weta and Cooloola monsters. This and the suborder Caelifera make up the order Orthoptera. Ensifera is believed to be a more ancient group than Caelifera, with its origins in the Carboniferous period, the split having occurred at the end of the Permian period. Unlike the Caelifera, the Ensifera contain numerous members that are partially carnivorous, feeding on other insects, as well as plants.
Gryllotalpa major,also known as the Prairie Mole Cricket, is endemic to the United States and is the largest cricket in North America. Its natural habitat is temperate grassland and it belongs to the family Gryllotalpidae. It is threatened by habitat loss, and is currently only found in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Arkansas. Males of this species produce sounds by rubbing their fore wings together. They sing from special burrows they construct in the prairie soil to attract females for mating, and they can be heard at distances up to 400 m from the burrow. Males aggregate their acoustic burrows in a lek arena and are very sensitive to vibrations carried through the ground. Males communicate with neighboring males through vibrational signals, and the songs they project to flying females are harmonic chirps, rather than the trills produced by most mole crickets.
A mating plug, also known as a copulation plug, sperm plug, vaginal plug, or sphragis, is gelatinous secretion used in the mating of some species. It is deposited by a male into a female genital tract, such as the vagina, and later hardens into a plug or glues the tract together. While females can expel the plugs afterwards, the male's sperm still gets a time advantage in getting to the egg, which is often the deciding factor in fertilization.
Acanthoplus discoidalis is a species in the Bradyporinae, a subfamily of the katydid family (Tettigoniidae). Like its closest relatives, Acanthoplus discoidalis variously bears common names such as armoured katydid, armoured ground cricket, armoured bush cricket, corn cricket, setotojane and koringkriek. The species is native to parts of Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Empis borealis is a species of dance flies in the fly family Empididae. It is found in most of Europe, except the Balkan Peninsula, the Baltic Region and the Iberian Peninsula. The brown wings of the female are very broad, while the male fly’s wings are narrower.
Meconema meridionale is an insect in the family Tettigoniidae, known as the southern oak bush cricket.
Eugaster spinulosa is a species of bush-cricket from Morocco.
Platycleis is a genus of bush crickets described by Fieber in 1853, belonging to the subfamily Tettigoniinae. The species of this genus are present in Europe, North Africa and temperate Asia.
Gryllus rubens, commonly known as the southeastern field cricket, is one of many cricket species known as a field cricket. It occurs throughout most of the Southeastern United States. Its northern range spans from southern Delaware to the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas, with a southern range stretching from Florida to eastern Texas.
A nuptial gift is a nutritional gift given by one partner in some animals' sexual reproduction practices.
Anurogryllus muticus, also known as De Geer's short-tailed cricket or simply short-tailed cricket is a species of cricket in the family Gryllidae.
Cyphoderris strepitans, the sagebrush cricket or sagebrush grig, is a one of only a few surviving species in the family Prophalangopsidae. Three of these species are in the genus Cyphoderris and all three are endemic to North America. C. strepitans name is from the Latin word 'strepitans' which means 'making a great noise', refers to their calling song during the mating season.
Platycleis affinis is an insect species belonging to the subfamily Tettigoniinae of family Tettigoniidae. It is found in Southern Europe. Research led by Karim Vahed found that the testes of this bush cricket account for 14% of its total body weight.
Rhamphomyia longicauda, the long-tailed dance fly, is a species of fly commonly found in eastern North America that belongs to the family Empididae and part of the superfamily of dance flies Empidoidea. It is included in the subgenus Rhamphomyia. This species of fly is most known for sex role reversal during courtship, as females put on exaggerated displays and congregate in leks to attract males. Females cannot hunt for food, so they receive protein from nuptial gifts brought to them by males. Female dependence on males for nutrition is the principal cause for sex role reversal in this species of fly.
Agelenopsis pennsylvanica, commonly known as the Pennsylvania funnel-web spider or the Pennsylvania grass spider, is a species of spider in the family Agelenidae. The common name comes from the place that it was described, Pennsylvania, and the funnel shape of its web. Its closest relative is Agelenopsis potteri.
Hemiandrus maculifrons is a species of ground wētā endemic to New Zealand. They are nocturnal, carnivorous, and flightless orthopterans belonging to the family Anostostomatidae. Being a nocturnal species, individuals remain in tunnels in the ground during the day and emerge from their burrows after sunset to forage and hunt for small invertebrates. H. maculifrons is one of the smallest New Zealand weta species, averaging 15 mm in length and weighing 1–3 g. Unlike the tree weta and tusked weta, where sexual dimorphism is found in the form of male weaponry, ground weta only exhibit sexual size dimorphism: the females are larger than the males.
Sarah Beynon is an entomologist, ecologist and presenter in the UK. She is a senior research associate at the University of Oxford and is founder of The Bug Farm.
Tim Cockerill FRES is an zoologist, broadcaster and photographer in the UK, he is Senior Lecturer at Falmouth University and has a particular interest in Insects.
References
- 1 2 3 "Professor Karim Vahed". www.derby.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ↑ "Staff". Buglife. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- 1 2 3 "BBC Four - The British Garden: Life and Death on Your Lawn - Expert profile Professor Karim Vahed". BBC.co.uk. July 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ↑ Vahed, Karim (1994). "The evolution and function of the spermatophylax in bushcrickets (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae)". eprints.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- 1 2 3 "Insect expert's young son beats him to rediscovering endangered bug". phys.org. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ↑ Price, Jo (22 September 2022). "MEET THE SCIENTIST Karim Vahed". BBC Wildlife. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
- ↑ Editor, Roger Highfield, Science (31 May 2005). "Tireless cricket is ready to mate every 18 seconds". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235 . Retrieved 16 January 2020.
{{cite news}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ↑ "Love Bugs". www.ft.com. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- 1 2 Sample, Ian; correspondent, science (10 November 2010). "Largest testicles of any species? That would be the bush cricket". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ↑ Braun, David (23 October 2012). National Geographic Tales of the Weird: Unbelievable True Stories. National Geographic. ISBN 978-1-4262-0966-6.
- ↑ "Could Guernsey be a hotspot for endangered crickets?". ITV News. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- 1 2 "Scaly cricket expert joins local amateurs in hunt for insect". www.guernseypress.com. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- ↑ Express, Bailiwick. ""Incredible that Spur Point could be filled with waste" - Entemologist". Bailiwick Express. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- ↑ "BBC Four - Spider House, How do spiders mate?". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ↑ Petty, Moira (8 July 2017). "The British garden: Sex and death in your back garden". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ↑ "Royal Entomological Society Recognition for Dr Karim Vahed | Postgrad.com". www.postgrad.com. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ↑ "Colour captured in black and white". ArtsBeat: 10–11. April 2016.
