Bandwing

Bandwings
Austroicetes vulgaris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Clade:	Euarthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Orthoptera
Family:	Acrididae
Subfamily:	Oedipodinae Walker, 1871
Tribes
See text
Synonyms
Locustidae Kirby, 1825 Locustinae Kirby, 1825 Oedipodidae Walker, 1871

Bandwings, or band-winged grasshoppers are the subfamily Oedipodinae^[1] of grasshoppers classified under the family Acrididae. They have a worldwide distribution and were originally elevated to full family status as the Oedipodidae.^[2] Many species primarily inhabit xeric weedy fields, and some are considered to be important locusts:

• Locusta migratoria: the migratory locust,
• Chortoicetes terminifera: the Australian plague locust.
• Locustana pardalina the brown locust

These grasshoppers often have colorful hindwings that may be yellow or red and edged with black. Others have black hindwings with pale edges, and a few species (including the most economically important ones) have clear hindwings. The arolium is extremely small or absent.

Defense

When bandwings feel safe, they appear drab. When they feel threatened, they leap out to reveal bold and bright colors. Some predators might even mistake the Blue-winged grasshopper for butterfly. But when the predator looks for the grasshopper, it is hiding in the grass. Bandwings continue this process if the predator tries to attack them.

Tribes and Genera

The Orthoptera Species File lists the following:^[3]

The genus Cibolacris was originally placed in Oedipodinae, and later moved to Gomphocerinae. The genus Stethophyma is traditionally included in Oedipodinae, but North American authors in particular sometimes place it in the Gomphocerinae or Acridinae. Some authors place all members of Oedipodinae within the subfamily Acridinae, and there has been much confusion and debate about the limits and relationships of the two subfamilies. ^{[8] [9] [10] [11]}

External links

• Data related to Oedipodinae at Wikispecies
• Media related to Oedipodinae at Wikimedia Commons

References