|
The
Diversity of The World of Life
True
Insects (Insecta)
Grasshoppers etc.
(Orthoptera)
Representatives
Crickets,
including Tree Crickets & Mole Crickets
Katydids & Other
Long-Horned Grasshoppers, including the Mormon "Cricket"
Grasshoppers,
including Locusts
Biology
APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF KNOWN SPECIES WORLDWIDE
Over
20,000
DESCRIPTION
Crickets, grasshoppers, and the like are usually large,
slender to oval, and drab to colorful. The antennae are long, thin,
and many-segmented. The mouthparts
are chewing. The wings, of
the adults, are rarely small or absent. At
rest, the forewings -- which are somewhat leathery, with visible veins -- overlap each other somewhat and hide the membranous, many-veined
hindwings -- folded like fans underneath, when not in use.
Many of the male insects of this order "sing" a species-specific mating call to females (or
fighting
call to other males), by rubbing one body part against another.
The common snowy tree cricket makes high-pitched moans on summer
and fall nights. You can tell
the approximate air temperature by listening to the chirping of this
cricket: Temperature (in
degrees Fahrenheit) = 40 + (# chirps in 13 seconds).
Crickets are usually
up to about 1" long, fairly flat from top-to-bottom, and dark (Tree
crickets are generally light green).
There is an eardrum on the front leg, used in hearing the often
chirping "songs" made by the males, by rubbing a scraper on the
base of one forewing across a "file" on the underside of the
other. Field crickets sing
both night and day and can jump very well.
The "ovipositor" (egg-laying organ), on the tail-end of the female,
is usually long and round.
Mole-crickets are typically
over 3/4" long, brownish, hairy, and fairly flattened, with digging
forelegs and short forewings (The adults can fly, and do so well, by using
their hindwings, which are folded underneath the fore when not in use).
Katydids and other
long-horned grasshoppers are usually large
and green or brown. As the name
implies, the antennae
are long and slender. The wings are small in some species. The
hindlegs are modified for jumping.
There is often an eardrum on the foreleg, used in hearing the
"songs" made by the males, by rubbing a scraper on the base of one
wing across a "file" on the underside of the other:
At dusk, katydids sing, "Katy did. Katy didn't."
The egg-laying ovipositor, on the tail-end of the female, is long and
bladelike.
Grasshoppers are typically
large and brownish. The
antennae are short; the wings, usually long (the hindwings sometimes
colorful); and the hindlegs, adapted for jumping.
There is an eardrum on each side of the first abdominal segment,
used in hearing the "songs" made by the males, either by rubbing
the hindleg against the forewing or by snapping the wings in flight. The egg-laying ovipositor, on the tail-end of the
female, is short.
METAMORPHOSIS
The nymphs look like small adults, although with small or
no wings. The eggs are
typically laid in the soil, debris, or plant parts.
HABITATS
Most insects in this order are found on plants or on the soil
(mole-crickets burrow in the soil) but crickets are often found indoors.
FOODS
Crickets
feed on a wide variety of foods, including household goods.
Katydids
feed especially on tree leaves, although a few species prey on other
insects.
Grasshoppers feed on a wide variety of plants.
DAMAGES/BENEFITS
Many of these species -- such as great swarms of
"locust" grasshoppers, carried far and wide by the prevailing
winds -- destroy many crops, both directly, by feeding, and sometimes
indirectly, by carrying plant viruses.
Tree crickets damage
trees and shrubs by laying eggs in twigs.
Crickets eat almost anything indoors.
A few species of katydids prey on small insects, often pests.
The bite of large insects in general is often painful to us
human beings.
And grasshoppers are eaten by many native peoples
around the world (although poultry and, presumably, people can become
infected with certain roundworms inside of grasshoppers
if eaten uncooked).
True
Insects (Insecta)
|
