Ensifera

For the avian genus Ensifera, see Sword-billed hummingbird.

Ensifera
Temporal range: Artinskian/Kungurian–Holocene, 272.3–0 Ma[1]
A bush cricket or katydid
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Superfamilies and families

See text

Ensifera is a suborder of insects that includes the various types of crickets and their allies including: true crickets, camel crickets, bush crickets or katydids, grigs, weta and Cooloola monsters. This and the suborder Caelifera (grasshoppers and their allies) make up the order Orthoptera. Ensifera is believed to be a more ancient group than Caelifera, with its origins in the Carboniferous period,[2] the split having occurred at the end of the Permian period.[3] Unlike the Caelifera, the Ensifera contain numerous members that are partially carnivorous, feeding on other insects, as well as plants.

Ensifer is Latin for "sword bearer", and refers to the typically elongated and blade-like ovipositor of the females.[4]

  1. ^ Wang, Yan-hui; Engel, Michael S.; Rafael, José A.; Wu, Hao-yang; Rédei, Dávid; Xie, Qiang; Wang, Gang; Liu, Xiao-guang; Bu, Wen-jun (2016). "Fossil record of stem groups employed in evaluating the chronogram of insects (Arthropoda: Hexapoda)". Scientific Reports. 6: 38939. Bibcode:2016NatSR...638939W. doi:10.1038/srep38939. PMC 5154178. PMID 27958352.
  2. ^ Resh, Vincent H.; Cardé, Ring T. (2009). Encyclopedia of Insects. Academic Press. pp. 232, 733–735. ISBN 978-0-08-092090-0.
  3. ^ Zeuner, F. E. (1939). Fossil Orthoptera Ensifera. London: British Museum Natural History.
  4. ^ "Orthoptera". Natural History Museum. Retrieved 2015-05-13.