| Mud crickets Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ripipteryx mopana | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Orthoptera |
| Suborder: | Caelifera |
| Infraorder: | Tridactylidea |
| Superfamily: | Tridactyloidea |
| Family: | Ripipterygidae Ander, 1939 |
| Genera | |
| |
| Synonyms | |
Rhipipterygidae Ander, 1939 (incorrect original spelling) Contents | |
Ripipterygidae is a family of insects in the order Orthoptera. Members of the family are commonly known as mud crickets.
Ripipterygids are small, often dark-colored, cricket-like orthopterans, between 3 and 14 mm in length. They closely resemble the related tridactylids. Like tridactylids, they have greatly expanded hind femora, and have the ability to swim and jump from the surface of water. They can be distinguished from tridactylids by their uninflated tibiae on the middle pair of legs, unsegmented cerci, rows of comblike teeth on the epiproct, and setae at the tips of the cerciform lobes on the paraproct, as well as through characters of the genitalia. [1]
Species in the genus Ripipteryx are typically black or dark brown and often metallic; many are boldly colored or strikingly patterned, with sharply contrasting white, yellow, and/or red markings. [2] Members of the genus Mirhipipteryx are typically smaller and more drably colored. [1]
Ripipterygids are restricted to the Neotropics. They can be found from southern Mexico south to central South America. Like tridactylids, they are typically found in riparian areas, on bare soil, sand, and mud, as well as on rocks, and – in some species – low vegetation in, near, or above water. [3] [4] In at least some species, individuals are not distributed evenly throughout appropriate habitat, but rather are found in groups. [4]
Ripipterygids have been comparatively little-studied, and many aspects of their biology are poorly known, with behavioral observations having only been made on a handful of species. [5]
Like tridactylids, ripipterygids walk quadrupedally using only their first two pairs of legs, and the hind legs are only used for jumping and swimming. Ripipterygids fly when disturbed, often landing on water and swimming back to shore. [4]
Ripipterygids are herbivorous, and have been recorded feeding on a variety of different plants, as well as foraging on the ground. [6] [4] [7] Foraging ripipterygids may leave networks of shallow tracks in sandy or muddy soil near waterways. [4]
At least some ripipterygids build short burrows or oval-shaped cells in clay soil or sand, on both flat ground and in vertical banks. [3] [4] [8] These burrows are used for temporary shelter, and may also be used for protection while molting. [4]
Species vary in their activity patterns; some are most active during dawn and dusk, and others are active throughout the day even in direct sunlight. [3] [8] One species studied was nocturnal. [3]
In Ripipteryx notata in Uruguay (near the southern limit of the family's geographic distribution), females oviposit eggs singly in bare soil in spring and summer. Nymphs are present in summer and early autumn (whereas adults are present year-round). [6] [4] Unlike in grasshoppers, embryonic molt has not been observed to occur in ripipterygids. [6]
Fish have been recorded preying on swimming ripipterygids. [4]
Ripipterygids, tridactylids, and sandgropers comprise the superfamily Tridactyloidea within the suborder Caelifera (grasshoppers and relatives). The tridactyloids are sister to the remainder of Caelifera. Within Tridactyloidea, ripipterygids are sister to tridactylids; the two families are estimated to have diverged between 150 and 175 million years ago. [9]
Ripipterygids were initially included in the family Tridactylidae. They were first elevated to family rank (as Rhipipterygidae) in 1939. [10] The classification of the family was extensively revised in a series of works by Kurt Günther between the 1960s and 1990s. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [8] However, the taxonomic diversity of the family, particularly in Central America, is still incompletely known. [18] [5]
Two extant genera of ripipterygids are recognized: Mirhipipteryx and Ripipteryx. Since the 1960s, the genus Ripipteryx has been divided into five species groups, based primarily on characters of the male genitalia. However, there is evidence that these groups are not monophyletic. [2] [19] [20] In addition, Ripipteryx itself may be paraphyletic with respect to Mirhipipteryx, suggesting additional taxonomic revision of the family is required. [19]
Both Mirhipipteryx and Ripipteryx have representatives distributed throughout the geographic distribution of the family, as do all of the Ripipteryx species groups apart from the Scrofulosa group, the members of which are all restricted to Central America. [3]
The following recent genera, species and subspecies of Ripipterygidae are recognized by OSF: [10]
In addition, two fossil species have been described, both based on individuals preserved in amber in regions of the world where the family no longer occurs: Mirhipipteryx antillarum Heads, 2010 (from early Miocene amber from Hispaniola [1] ), and Archaicaripipteryx rotunda Xu, Zhang, Jarzembowski & Fang, 2020 (from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber [21] ).
The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae of the suborder Ensifera has a worldwide distribution. Common names for these insects include cave crickets, camel crickets, Hogan bugs, spider crickets, land shrimp, and sand treaders. Those occurring in New Zealand 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 500 species of Rhaphidophoridae are described.
Ectobiidae is a family of the order Blattodea (cockroaches). This family contains many of the smaller common household pest cockroaches, among others. They are sometimes called wood cockroaches. A few notable species include:
Bandwings, or band-winged grasshoppers, are the subfamily Oedipodinae of grasshoppers classified under the family Acrididae. They have a worldwide distribution and were originally elevated to full family status as the Oedipodidae. Many species primarily inhabit xeric weedy fields, and some are considered to be important locusts:
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.
Tetrigidae is an ancient family in the order Orthoptera, which also includes similar families such as crickets, grasshoppers, and their allies. Species within the Tetrigidae are variously called groundhoppers, pygmy grasshoppers, pygmy devils or "grouse locusts".
The Phaneropterinae, the sickle-bearing bush crickets or leaf katydids, are a subfamily of insects within the family Tettigoniidae. Nearly 2,060 species in 85 genera throughout the world are known. They are also known as false katydids or round-headed katydids.
Sam W. Heads is a British palaeontologist, a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, as well as a former Officer and Editor-in-Chief at the Orthopterists' Society.
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.
The Eneopterinae are a subfamily of crickets, in the family Gryllidae, based on the type genus Eneoptera. It is one of several groups widely described as "true crickets". Of the more than 500 species that make up this subfamily, most occur in moist, tropical habitats. These insects are medium to large and brown or gray in color. They eat plant leaves, flowers, and fruits and can occasionally cause economic damage. Their eggs are deposited in pith, bark, or wood. Eneopterinae show a great diversity in stridulatory apparatus, signals emitted, and associated behaviour.
Afrotridactylus is a genus of African pygmy mole crickets, which contains the following species:
The African sandhopper is a species of pygmy mole cricket found throughout Africa south of the Sahara Desert. It prefers sandy or muddy open river banks. It has been recorded from Niokolo-Koba National Park in Senegal.
Conocephalinae, meaning "conical head", is an Orthopteran subfamily in the family Tettigoniidae.
The Pseudophyllodromiinae are a subfamily of cockroaches, in the family Ectobiidae, with a world-wide distribution.
Xya is a genus of pygmy mole crickets, with species recorded from Africa, southern Europe, Asia and Australia.
Gryllotalpa unispina is a species of mole cricket, in the G. gryllotalpa species group, found in Eastern Europe through to Manchuria. No subspecies are listed in the Catalogue of Life.
Pteronemobius is a genus of crickets in the subfamily Nemobiinae, with a worldwide distribution.
Tridactylus berlandi is a species of pygmy mole cricket endemic to Vietnam. The type specimen was taken from the southern region ("Cochinchine") and is deposited in the National Museum of Natural History, France.
Gryllini is a tribe of crickets and typical of the family Gryllidae. Species are terrestrial, carnivorous or omnivorous and can be found in all continenents except Antarctica.
Luzarinaeis a subfamily of crickets in the family Phalangopsidae.
Ornebius is a genus of crickets in the family Mogoplistidae and the tribe Arachnocephalini, erected by Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville in 1844. Species may be called "common scaled crickets" and have widespread records of distribution, which are discontinuous ; they include: Africa, Asia, Australia, islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and South America.
Media related to Ripipterygidae at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Ripipterygidae at Wikispecies