Caelifera

Caelifera
Temporal range: early Triassic–recent[1] 250–0 Ma
A pygmy mole-cricket
A groundhopper
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Clade:Euarthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Orthoptera
Suborder:Caelifera
Ander, 1939
Infraorders[2]

The Caelifera[3] are a sub-order 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.

Subdivisions and their distribution

The Caelifera includes some 2,400 valid genera and about 11,000 known species. Many undescribed species probably exist, especially in tropical forests. The Caelifera have a predominantly tropical distribution (as with most Orthoptera) with fewer species known from temperate climate zones. Caelifera are divided into two infraorders: the more basal Tridactylidea and the Acrididea or grasshopper-like species. This latter name is derived from older sources, such as Imms,[4] which placed the "short-horned grasshoppers" and locusts at the family level (Acrididae).

Affiliations

The phylogeny of the Caelifera, is described in detail for grasshoppers, with 6 out of 8 extant superfamilies shown here as a cladogram. Like the Ensifera, Caelifera and all of its superfamilies appear to be monophyletic.[3][8]

Orthoptera

Ensifera (crickets, etc.)

[6 superfamilies]

 
Caelifera

 Tridactylidea 

 

Tridactyloidea

 
 

[2 extinct superfamilies]

 
 
 Acrididea 

 

Tetrigoidea

 
 Acridomorpha 

 

Eumastacoidea

 
 

 

Pneumoroidea

 
 

 

Pyrgomorphoidea

 
 

Acridoidea etc.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Economic significance and terminology

A number of species, especially in the Acridoidea, are significant agricultural pests, but not all of them are locusts: a non-taxonomic term referring to species whose populations which may change morphologically when crowded and show swarming behaviour.[9] Examples of agricultural grasshopper pests that are not called locusts include the Senegalese grasshopper and certain species in the Pyrgomorphidae, notably the variegated grasshopper (Zonocerus variegatus).

References

  1. ↑ Zeuner, F. E. (1939). Fossil Orthoptera Ensifera. British Museum Natural History. OCLC 1514958.
  2. ↑ ITIS: Caelifera (retrieved 2 August 2017)
  3. 1 2 Rowell, Hugh; Flook, Paul (2001). "Caelifera: Shorthorned Grasshoppers, Locusts and Relatives". Tree of Life web project. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  4. 1 2 Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) A General Textbook of Entomology 9th Ed. Methuen 886 pp.
  5. 1 2 Ragge DR (1965). Grasshoppers, Crickets & Cockroaches of the British Isles. F Warne & Co, London. p. 299.
  6. ↑ ITIS: Acrididea (Retrieved 23/7/2017)
  7. ↑ Orthoptera Species File: infraorder Acrididea (Retrieved 20/7/2017)
  8. ↑ Flook, P. K.; Rowell, C. H. F. (1997). "The Phylogeny of the Caelifera (Insecta, Orthoptera) as Deduced from mtrRNA Gene Sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 8 (1): 89–103. doi:10.1006/mpev.1997.0412. PMID 9242597.
  9. ↑ Uvarov BP (1966) Grasshoppers & Locusts. A Handbook of General Acridology Cambridge University Press, London 1:481 pp.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.