Tridactylidea

Last updated

Tridactylidea
Pigmy Mole Cricket (Tridactylus sp.) (13977429463).jpg
Tridactylus sp.
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Caelifera
Infraorder: Tridactylidea
Brullé, 1835

The infraorder Tridactylidea [1] has a single extant superfamily which includes pygmy mole crickets; they are thought to represent living representatives of the most basal Caelifera: the Orthopteran suborder that includes grasshoppers. [2]

Contents

Superfamilies and families

The infraorder consists of two superfamilies, one living and one extinct; the Orthoptera Species File lists the following: [3]

Related Research Articles

Orthoptera Order of insects including grasshoppers, crickets, wētā and locusts

Orthoptera is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grasshoppers, locusts, and close relatives; and Ensifera – crickets and close relatives.

Rhaphidophoridae Family of insects

The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae of the suborder Ensifera has a worldwide distribution. Common names for these insects include the cave wētā, cave crickets, camelback crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets and sand treaders. Those occurring in New Zealand, Australia, and Tasmania are typically referred to as jumping or cave wētā. Most are found in forest environments or within caves, animal burrows, cellars, under stones, or in wood or similar environments. All species are flightless and nocturnal, usually with long antennae and legs. More than 1100 species of Rhaphidophoridae are described.

Prophalangopsidae Family of cricket-like animals

The family Prophalangopsidae are insects belonging to the order Orthoptera. They are the only extant members of the superfamily Hagloidea. There is only one extant genus in North America, where they are known as grigs, four genera in Asia, and many extinct genera.

Ensifera Suborder of cricket-like animals

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.

Caelifera Suborder of insects

The Caelifera are a suborder of orthopteran insects. They include the grasshoppers and grasshopper-like insects, as well as other superfamilies classified with them: the ground-hoppers (Tetrigoidea) and pygmy mole crickets (Tridactyloidea). The latter should not be confused with the mole crickets (Gryllotalpidae), which belong to the other Orthopteran sub-order Ensifera.

Schizodactylidae Family of cricket-like animals

Schizodactylidae is a family of orthopteran insects found in Asia and Africa, known as dune crickets or splay-footed crickets. They are usually found in desert and sandy areas. Species are predatory, including Schizodactylus inexspectatus. T. B. Fletcher notes that one captive individual did not feed on any vegetable matter. Fossils are known since the Early Cretaceous.

Euphasmatodea Suborder of insects

The Euphasmatodea, also known by its junior synonym Verophasmatodea is a suborder of the Phasmatodea, which contains the vast majority of the extant species of stick and leaf insects.

Trigonidiinae Subfamily of crickets

Trigonidiinae is a subfamily of insects in the order Orthoptera, suborder Ensifera, based on the type genus Trigonidium. They are often referred to as sword-tail crickets, winged bush crickets or trigs.

Tridactylidae Family of [[Caelifera]]

The Tridactylidae are a family in the insect order Orthoptera. They are small, mole-cricket-like insects, almost always less than 20 mm (0.79 in) long when mature. Generally they are shiny, dark or black, sometimes variegated or sandy-coloured. They commonly live in short tunnels and are commonly known as pygmy mole crickets, though they are not closely related to the true "mole crickets" (Ensifera), as they are included in the Caelifera suborder.

Tridactyloidea Superfamily of Caelifera

Tridactyloidea is a superfamily in the order Orthoptera. The insects are sometimes known as pygmy mole crickets but they are Caelifera and not members of the mole cricket suborder Ensifera, unlike the true mole crickets, the Gryllotalpidae. It is composed of three families that contain a total of about 50 species. Insects in this superfamily can be 4 to 9 millimeters in length and generally have short antennae and long wings. They live along the banks of bodies of water in tropical areas and are good swimmers and jumpers. Fossils of this subfamily have been found in Siberian deposits dating back to the Cretaceous.

Mogoplistidae Family of crickets

Mogoplistidae is a family of scaly crickets within the superfamily Grylloidea. Considered to be monophyletic, a sister taxon to the Gryllidae crickets. This family consists of 30 genera and 364 species worldwide; 20 species in 4 genera occur in North America and this family includes the scaly crickets of Europe.

Grylloidea Superfamily of cricket-like animals

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.

Acrididea Infraorder of grasshoppers

Acrididea including the Acridomorpha is an infraorder of insects that describe the grasshoppers and ground-hoppers. It contains a large majority of species in the suborder Caelifera and the taxon Acridomorpha may also be used, which excludes the Tetrigoidea. Both names are derived from older texts, such as Imms, which placed the "short-horned grasshoppers" and locusts at the family level (Acrididae). The study of grasshopper species is called acridology.

<i>Lesina</i> (katydid) Genus of katydids

Lesina is a genus of bush cricket in the tribe Agraeciini. Species in this genus are known as 'dragon headed katydids' with the similar species Ellatodon blanchardi. They are native to tropical Asia including Malaysia, Indonesia and Borneo, while they are endemic to Croatia. They are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to a continuing decline of mature individuals.

Hagloidea Superfamily of cricket-like animals

The superfamily Hagloidea are insects belonging to the order Orthoptera: Ensifera; they are now represented by the extant Prophalangopsidae, with many extinct genera and families.

Tettigoniidea Infraorder of cricket-like animals

Tettigoniidea is an infraorder of the order Orthoptera, with six extant families.

Gryllidea Infraorder of cricket-like animals

Gryllidea is an infraorder that includes crickets and similar insects in the order Orthoptera. There are two superfamilies, and more than 6,000 described species in Gryllidea.

The Pteroplistinae comprise a subfamily of crickets, in the superfamily Grylloidea. Species are found in tropical Asia.

Gryllotalpoidea Superfamily of cricket-like animals

The Gryllotalpoidea are a superfamily of insects that includes the mole crickets and the ant crickets. The type genus is Gryllotalpa.

Neocononicephora is a genus of Asian bush crickets, belonging to the tribe Meconematini of the subfamily Meconematinae. Three species have been found to date (2020): all from Vietnam.

References

  1. Brullé GA (1835) In Audouin & Brullé: Histoire naturelle des insectes 9 [1] (5):1-225 [225–416 in 1836]
  2. Kevan DKM (1982) In Parker [Ed.]: Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms 2: 378
  3. Orthoptera Species File (Version 5.0/5.0)