Anostostomatidae is a family of insects in the order Orthoptera, widely distributed in the southern hemisphere. It is named Mimnermidae or Henicidae in some taxonomies, and common names include king crickets in Australia and South Africa, and wētā in New Zealand. Prominent members include the Parktown prawn of South Africa, and the giant wētā of New Zealand. The distribution of this family reflects a common ancestry before the fragmenting of Gondwana.
The family Gryllidae contains the subfamilies and genera which entomologists now term true crickets. Having long, whip-like antennae, they belong to the Orthopteran suborder Ensifera, which has been greatly reduced in the last 100 years : taxa such as the spider-crickets and allies, sword-tail crickets, wood or ground crickets and scaly crickets have been elevated to family level. The type genus is Gryllus and the first use of the family name "Gryllidae" was by Francis Walker.
Pachyrhamma is a genus of cave weta in the family Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to New Zealand.
Insulanoplectron is a genus of cave wētā in the family Rhaphidophoridae, with just one species: the Snares Island Wētā. Insulanoplectron spinosum is endemic to the subantartic Snares Island of New Zealand, where it is considered to be naturally uncommon. Wētā are nocturnal crickets found all around the world. During the day on the Snares, wētā can be found hiding in seabird burrows.
Neonetus is a genus of cave wētā in the family Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to New Zealand. All described species are small; when adult, individuals are only about 1 cm long. Neonetus variegatus and N. huttoni are common in native and exotic forests but because they are small and nocturnal, they are often overlooked.
Novoplectron is a monotypic genus of cave wētā in the family Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to the Chatham Islands. Cave wētā are nocturnal, wingless crickets that occupy humid habitats. Novoplectron wētā generally live under stones and in burrows of seabirds, such as broad-billed prions, mutton birds and storm petrels.
Pharmacus is a genus of cave wētā in the family Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to New Zealand. All species are alpine adapted and found at high elevations in the South Island. They live among rocks on high mountain ridges, often well above glaciers and vegetation. Pharmacus has a geographical range that extends from Nelson south to central Otago and Fiordland. They are small insects with a body length of approximately 14-20mm. In this genus, females are larger than males. All species exhibit dark brown to black pigmentation of the body and legs. They have a dense clothing of setae and a serrated ovipositor. When active they are lively jumpers. For example, Pharmacus montanus is known as the Mount Cook flea because of its habit of leaping out of rock crevices on to mountain climbers.
Gryllacrididae are a family of non-jumping insects in the suborder Ensifera occurring worldwide, known commonly as leaf-rolling crickets or raspy crickets. The family historically has been broadly defined to include what are presently several other families, such as Stenopelmatidae and Rhaphidophoridae, now considered separate. As presently defined, the family contains two subfamilies: Gryllacridinae and Hyperbaeninae. They are commonly wingless and nocturnal. In the daytime, most species rest in shelters made from folded leaves sewn with silk. Some species use silk to burrow in sand, earth or wood. Raspy crickets evolved the ability to produce silk independently from other insects, but their silk has many convergent features to silkworm silk, being made of long, repetitive proteins with an extended beta-sheet structure.
The subfamily Pseudophyllinae contains numerous species in the family Tettigoniidae, the katydids or bush crickets. Sometimes called "true katydids", together with the crickets of suborder Ensifera, they form part of the insect order Orthoptera which also contains grasshoppers.
Diestrammena is a 'camel' or 'cave-cricket' genus in the family Rhaphidophoridae. Species in the genus are native to Asia, including Japan.
Ceuthophilus is a genus of insects in the cave cricket family Rhaphidophoridae. It contains most of the species that are known commonly as camel crickets.
Grylloidea is the superfamily of insects, in the order Orthoptera, known as crickets. It includes the "true crickets", scaly crickets, wood crickets and other families, some only known from fossils.
Conocephalinae, meaning "conical head", is an Orthopteran subfamily in the family Tettigoniidae.
Pachyrhamma waitomoensis, known as the Waitomo cave weta, is a large species of cave weta, native to the Waitomo district of New Zealand.
Pharmacus montanus, the Mount Cook flea, is a type of cave wētā found above the tree line in the South Island of New Zealand. It was first described by Francois Jules Pictet de la Rive and Henri Saussure in 1893. Pharmacus montanus is one of the most widespread species within the genus, found from Aoraki/Mount Cook to Mount Owen in northern South Island. The highest recorded specimens of this species are from a population between 2700 and 2800 m above sea level on Mount Annan above the Tasman Glacier.
The Phalangopsidae are a recently reconstituted family of crickets, based on the type genus PhalangopsisServille, 1831 from South America. Priority for family-group names based on this genus dates from Blanchard's "Phalangopsites".
Pachyrhamma edwardsii is a species of wētā, in the family Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to New Zealand. This species is found in caves, or large cavities where there is high humidity and little plant or animal life.
Wētā is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemic to New Zealand. They are giant flightless crickets, and some are among the heaviest insects in the world. Generally nocturnal, most small species are carnivores and scavengers while the larger species are herbivorous. Although some endemic birds likely prey on them, wētā are disproportionately preyed upon by introduced mammals, and some species are now critically endangered.
Talitropsis sedilloti is a species of flightless wētā, in the family Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand. This species is common in forests throughout New Zealand and during the day can be found hiding in holes in tree branches.
Dr Aola Mary Richards was a New Zealand entomologist specialising in the study of New Zealand and Australian cave crickets, or wētā (Rhaphidophoridae), and Australian ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae). She was the first New Zealand woman to gain a PhD in biology.
