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Orthoptera () is an
order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...
of
insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s that comprises the
grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...
s,
locust Locusts (derived from the Latin ''locusta'', locust or lobster) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances they b ...
s, and
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
s, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and
wētā Wētā (also spelled weta in English) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemism, endemic to New Zealand. They are giant wingless insect, flightless cricket (insect ...
. The order is subdivided into two suborders:
Caelifera 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). ...
– grasshoppers, locusts, and close relatives; and
Ensifera Ensifera is a Order (biology), suborder of insects that includes the various types of crickets and their allies, including cricket (insect), true crickets, Rhaphidophoridae, camel crickets, Tettigoniidae, bush crickets or katydids, Prophalangops ...
– crickets and close relatives. More than 20,000
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
are distributed worldwide. The insects in the order have incomplete metamorphosis, and produce
sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...
(known as a "
stridulation Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fish, snakes and spiders. The mech ...
") by rubbing their wings against each other or their legs, the wings or legs containing rows of corrugated bumps. The tympanum, or
ear In vertebrates, an ear is the organ that enables hearing and (in mammals) body balance using the vestibular system. In humans, the ear is described as having three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear co ...
, is located in the front
tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...
in crickets,
mole cricket Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole" * Golden mole, southern African mammals * Marsupial mole, Australian mammals Other common meanings * Nevus, a growth on human skin ** Melanocytic nevus, a specific type of ...
s, and bush crickets or katydids, and on the first abdominal segment in the grasshoppers and locusts. These organisms use vibrations to locate other individuals. Grasshoppers and other orthopterans are able to fold their wings (i.e. they are members of
Neoptera Neoptera (Ancient Greek ''néos'' ("new") + ''pterón'' ("wing")) is a classification group that includes most orders of the winged insects, specifically those that can flex their wings over their abdomens. This is in contrast with the more basa ...
).


Etymology

The name is derived from the
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
meaning "straight" and ' meaning "wing".


Characteristics

Orthopterans have a generally
cylindrical A cylinder () has traditionally been a Solid geometry, three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a Prism (geometry), prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may ...
body, with elongated hindlegs and musculature adapted for
jumping Jumping or leaping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory. Jumping can be distinguished from running, galloping and ...
. They have
mandibulate The clade Mandibulata constitutes one of the major subdivisions of the phylum Arthropoda, alongside Chelicerata. Mandibulates include the crustaceans, myriapods (centipedes and millipedes, among others), and all true insects. The name "Mandibulat ...
mouthparts for biting and chewing and large
compound eye A compound eye is a Eye, visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidium, ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens (anatomy), lens, and p ...
s, and may or may not have
ocelli A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...
, depending on the species. The antennae have multiple joints and filiform type, and are of variable length. The first and third segments on the
thorax The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...
are larger, while the second segment is much smaller. They have two pairs of wings, which are held overlapping the
abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...
at rest. The forewings, or tegmina, are narrower than the hindwings and hardened at the base, while the hindwings are membranous, with straight veins and numerous cross-veins. At rest, the hindwings are held folded fan-like under the forewings. The final two to three segments of the abdomen are reduced, and have single-segmented cerci.


Life cycle

Orthopterans have a paurometabolous lifecycle or incomplete metamorphosis. The use of sound is generally crucial in courtship, and most species have distinct songs. Most grasshoppers lay their eggs in the ground or on vegetation. The eggs hatch and the young
nymphs A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...
resemble adults, but lack wings and at this stage are often called 'hoppers'. They may often also have a radically different coloration from the adults. Through successive moults, the nymphs develop wings until their final moult into a mature adult with fully developed wings. The number of moults varies between species; growth is also very variable and may take a few weeks to some months depending on food availability and weather conditions.


Evolution

This order evolved with a division into two suborders –
Caelifera 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). ...
and
Ensifera Ensifera is a Order (biology), suborder of insects that includes the various types of crickets and their allies, including cricket (insect), true crickets, Rhaphidophoridae, camel crickets, Tettigoniidae, bush crickets or katydids, Prophalangops ...
– occurring .Chang H, Qiu Z, Yuan H, Wang X, Li X, Sun H, Guo X, Lu Y, Feng X, Majid M, Huang Y (2020) Evolutionary rates of and selective constraints on the mitochondrial genomes of Orthoptera insects with different wing types. Mol Phylogenet Evol


Phylogeny

The Orthoptera are divided into two suborders,
Caelifera 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). ...
and
Ensifera Ensifera is a Order (biology), suborder of insects that includes the various types of crickets and their allies, including cricket (insect), true crickets, Rhaphidophoridae, camel crickets, Tettigoniidae, bush crickets or katydids, Prophalangops ...
, that have been shown to be
monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
.Zhou Z, Ye H, Huang Y, Shi F. (2010) The phylogeny of Orthoptera inferred from mtDNA and description of ''Elimaea cheni'' (Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) mitogenome. ''J. Genet. Genomics.'' 37(5):315-324 A recent comprehensive phylogeny based on analyses of data from transcriptomes and mitochondrial genomes found the following relationships within Orthoptera. ;Notes


Taxonomy

Taxonomists classify members of the Caelifera and Ensifera into infraorders and superfamilies as follows: * Suborder
Caelifera 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). ...
– grasshoppers, pygmy mole crickets and allies ** Infraorder
Acrididea Acrididea including the Acridomorpha is an infraorder of insects that describe the grasshoppers (thus also locusts) and ground-hoppers. It contains a large majority of species in the suborder Caelifera and the taxon Acridomorpha may also be us ...
*** Superfamily Acridoidea – grasshoppers, locusts *** Superfamily Eumastacoidea – monkey or matchstick grasshoppers and allies *** Superfamily Locustopsoidea† *** Superfamily Pneumoroidea – bladder grasshoppers *** Superfamily Pyrgomorphoidea – gaudy grasshoppers *** Superfamily Tanaoceroidea – desert long-horned grasshoppers *** Superfamily
Tetrigoidea 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,Borror DJ, Trippl ...
– ground-hoppers or grouse locusts *** Superfamily Trigonopterygoidea – leaf grasshoppers ** Infraorder Tridactylidea *** Superfamily Dzhajloutshelloidea† *** Superfamily Regiatoidea† *** Superfamily Tridactyloidea – pygmy mole crickets and allies * Suborder
Ensifera Ensifera is a Order (biology), suborder of insects that includes the various types of crickets and their allies, including cricket (insect), true crickets, Rhaphidophoridae, camel crickets, Tettigoniidae, bush crickets or katydids, Prophalangops ...
– crickets ** Superfamily
Grylloidea Grylloidea is the Taxonomic rank#Ranks in zoology, superfamily of insects, in the order (biology), order Orthoptera, known as Cricket (insect), crickets. It includes the "Gryllidae, true crickets", Mogoplistinae, scaly crickets, Nemobiinae, wood ...
– crickets ** Superfamily Gryllotalpoidea – mole crickets and ant crickets ** Superfamily Hagloidea – grigs and allies ** Superfamily Phasmomimoidea† ** Superfamily
Rhaphidophoroidea The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae of the suborder Ensifera has a worldwide distribution. Common names for these insects include cave crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets (sometimes shortened to "criders" or "sprickets"), and sand trea ...
– camel crickets, cave crickets, cave wētā ** Superfamily Schizodactyloidea – dune crickets ** Superfamily
Stenopelmatoidea Stenopelmatoidea is a superfamily of insects in the order Orthoptera; in some older classifications this group was referred to as Gryllacridoidea. Classification The classification and constituency of Stenopelmatoidea is an ongoing source of co ...
– wētā and allies ** Superfamily
Tettigonioidea Insects in the family (biology), family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America) or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the subo ...
– katydids / bush crickets *''Incertae sedis'' **Superfamily Elcanoidea
Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...
-
Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...


Relationships with humans


As pests

Several species of Orthoptera are considered pests of crops and rangelands or seeking warmth in homes by humans. The two groups of Orthoptera that cause the most damage are
grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...
s and
locust Locusts (derived from the Latin ''locusta'', locust or lobster) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances they b ...
s. Locusts are historically known for wiping out fields of crops in a day. Locusts have the ability to eat up to their own body weight in a single day. Individuals gather in large groups called swarms, consisting of up to 80 million individuals and spanning as much as 460 square miles. Grasshoppers can cause major agricultural damage but not to the documented extent as locusts historically have. These insects mainly feed on weeds and grasses, however, during times of drought and high population density they will feed on crops. They are a known pest in
soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...
fields and will likely feed on these crops once preferred food sources have become scarce.


As food

Most orthopterans are edible, making up 13% of all insects including some 80 species of grasshoppers being regularly consumed worldwide. In
Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
and
Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...
, grasshoppers and locusts are usually collected early in the morning when it is cooler as the orthopterans are less mobile due to being cold-blooded. In Thailand, house crickets are commonly reared and eaten; as of 2012, around 20,000 cricket farmers had farms in 53 of their 76 provinces. In the second century BCE in
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
,
Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (;  1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...
is known to have called people from
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
''Acridophagi'', meaning "eaters of locusts." In
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
, the Orthoptera include the only insects considered
kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...
. The list of dietary laws in the
book of Leviticus The Book of Leviticus (, from , ; , , 'And He called'; ) is the third book of the Torah (the Pentateuch) and of the Old Testament, also known as the Third Book of Moses. Many hypotheses presented by scholars as to its origins agree that it de ...
forbids all flying insects that walk, but makes an exception for certain locusts. The
Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
states the only kosher flying insects with four walking legs have knees that extend above their feet so that they hop.


As creators of biofuel

With new research showing promise in locating alternative
biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from Biomass (energy), biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricu ...
sources in the gut of insects, grasshoppers are one species of interest. The insect's ability to break down
cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of glycosidic bond, β(1→4) linked glucose, D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important s ...
and
lignin Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants. Lignins are particularly important in the formation of cell walls, especially in wood and bark, because they lend rigidit ...
without producing
greenhouse gases Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...
has aroused scientific interest.


See also

* List of Orthopteroid genera containing species recorded in Europe * List of Orthoptera recorded in Britain * Orthopterida *
Female sperm storage Female sperm storage is a biological process and often a type of sexual selection in which spermatozoa, sperm cells transferred to a female during mating are temporarily retained within a specific part of the reproductive tract before the oocyte, ...


References


External links


Orthoptera Species File OnlineOrthoptera Image Gallery (Iowa State University Entomology Department)Australian Plague Locust CommissionThe Orthopterists' SocietyAcridAfrica, les acridiens d'Afrique de l'Ouest
*
Birdwing Grasshoppers in BelizeSound recordings of Orthoptera at BioAcoustica
{{Authority control Insect orders Edible insects Carboniferous first appearances Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille Orthopterida