Gryllidae

Gryllidae
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous–Recent
Female Gryllus campestris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Superfamily: Grylloidea
Family: Gryllidae
Laicharting, 1781[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Gryllides Laicharting, 1781
  • Mitratogryllus Furukawa, 1985 (nomen nudum)
  • Paragryllidae Desutter-Grandcolas, 1987

The family Gryllidae contains the subfamilies and genera which entomologists now term true crickets. Having long, whip-like antennae, they belong to the Orthopteran suborder Ensifera, which has been greatly reduced in the last 100 years (e.g. Imms[3]): taxa such as the tree crickets, spider-crickets and their allies, sword-tail crickets, wood or ground crickets and scaly crickets have been moved or elevated to family level.[a] The type genus is Gryllus and the first use of the family name "Gryllidae" was by Francis Walker.[4]

They have a worldwide distribution (except Antarctica).[2] The most familiar field crickets (Gryllinae) are characteristically robust brown or black insects;[5] the largest members of the family are the 5 cm (2 in)-long bull crickets (Brachytrupes) which excavate burrows a metre or more deep.

  1. ^ Many taxa in the Ensifera may be called crickets sensu lato, including the Rhaphidophoridae – cave or camel crickets; Stenopelmatidae – Jerusalem or sand crickets; Mogoplistidae – scaly crickets; Gryllotalpidae – mole crickets; Anabrus – Mormon crickets; Myrmecophilidae – ant crickets; and Tettigoniidae – the bush crickets or katydids.
  1. ^ Laicharting JN von (1781) Verzeichnis und Beschreibung der Tyroler Insecten 1.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference OSF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) A General Textbook of Entomology 9th Ed. Methuen 886 pp.
  4. ^ Walker F (1871) Catalogue of the Specimens of Dermaptera Saltatoria in the Collection of the British Museum Supplement: 98.
  5. ^ Resh, Vincent H.; Cardé, Ring T. (2009). Encyclopedia of Insects. Academic Press. pp. 232–236. ISBN 978-0-08-092090-0.