Acridoxeninae This is a small, aberrant subfamily of large Central African katydids, with only one species, Acridoxena hewaniana.. All species have greatly reduced, scale-like wings, usu
Trang 1all species are phytophagous, although opportunistic
canni-balism has been observed in a few species Many species are
exclusively arboreal Eggs are laid in the soil, plant tissues, or
on the surfaces of leaves and bark Immature stages of many
species mimic ants, tiger beetles, and even spiders, whereas
adults of the same species usually mimic leaves or blades of
grass Several South American genera are superb mimics of
pompilid wasps
Acridoxeninae This is a small, aberrant subfamily of large
Central African katydids, with only one species, Acridoxena
hewaniana Its relationship to other katydids is uncertain as it
displays a mixture of very advanced and very primitive
characteristics The most interesting feature of Acridoxena is
its astonishing mimicry of a dried, spiny plant All parts of
the body look like shriveled, twisted, dry leaves or twigs
Nothing is known of its biology or behavior
Ephippigerinae This is a small Palearctic subfamily, with
approximately 140 described species All species have greatly
reduced, scale-like wings, usually hidden under an enlarged,
saddle-shaped pronotum Females of many species stridulate
and certain species have long been model organisms for
studies on acoustic communication and courtship in insects
Some species occasionally cause minor agricultural damage
Pseudophyllinae This is the second largest subfamily of
Tet-tigoniidae, with approximately 1100 described species,
dis-tributed in tropical and subtropical regions of the globe A
notable exception is the true katydid (Pterophylla camellifolia)
of eastern USA, which is both the northermost member of
the subfamily and the source of the name ‘‘katydid.’’ Its
characteristic, loud call resembles (although some listeners
disagree) the syllables ‘‘ka-ty-did.’’ Most pseudophyline
katydids are found in the tropical areas of South America and
Southeast Asia Many are spectacular mimics of leaves (tribes
Pterochrozini and Pseudophyllini) and bark (tribes
Plemi-nini and Cymatomerini) Secondary loss of stridulation and
widespread presence of tremulation is characteristic of many
neotropical members of the subfamily On the other hand,
Old World members of the subfamily belong to the loudest
night singers of tropical forests This disparity in their
acoustic behavior has been explained by different hunting
strategies of insectivorous bats in the New and the Old
World, which in turn shaped different defensive strategies
among acoustic insects Nearly all species of the
Pseudo-phyllinae are arboreal or at least associated with tall
vege-tation A notable exception is the genus Callimenellus, which
is known to inhabit marine littoral rock crevices in Hong
Kong All species seem to be phytophagous although
op-portunistic insectivory has been observed in a few Central
American species Virtually all species are nocturnal
Tettigoniinae It is a large subfamily, with nearly 1000
de-scribed species Most of the species of this subfamily occur in
the temperate regions of the world, and only a handful of
species are present in the tropics Tettigoniinae achieved the
greatest diversity in the regions of Europe, western North
America, South Africa, and Australia characterized by the
Mediterranean type of vegetation Many species have a large,
shield-like pronotum, hence the common name ‘‘shield-backed katydids.’’ Females always have a long, sword-like ovipositor and lay eggs in soil or the stems of herbaceous plants Males stridulate loudly and many species are active during the day A few species of shield-backed katydids are agricultural pests, the best known being the Mormon cricket
(Anabrus simplex) of western USA However, some species in
China and Japan have been kept as pets for hundreds of years, and their pleasing calls have made a remarkable impact
on the poetry and other arts of these countries
Conocephalinae The conehead katydids are a large subfamily
of Tettigoniidae, with more than 1100 described species worldwide Many are characterized by a prominent fastigium
of the vertex, forming a characteristic ‘‘horn’’ on the head The diet of many of these katydids is restricted to grasses and their seeds, although quite a few species are predaceous The conehead katydids are quite common in temperate regions of North America and Europe, although they reach their greatest diversity in the tropical areas of South America Some species
of Conocephalinae may become agricultural pests and a few
have been known to form large, locust-like swarms (Ruspo-lia) Male investment in offspring can be significant in some neotropical conehead katydids, and an elaborate courtship behavior is common in such species
Phasmodinae and Zaprochilinae These two, closely related subfamilies are restricted to Australia Phasmodinae contains
only one genus, Phasmodes, with three species restricted in
their distribution to Western Australia These insects are a good example of convergent evolution, resembling walking sticks (Phasmida) to an extraordinary degree Both sexes are completely wingless, and females lack tibial tympana as well
as thoracic auditory spiracles The entire body is extremely elongate and thin, and the head is prognathous A simple way of telling these insects apart from walking sticks is looking at the proportions of thoracic segments In real walking sticks, the prothorax is extremely elongated, whereas
in Phasmodes, it is the mesothorax that has such modification.
These interesting katydids feed on both leaves and flowers of the heath habitats
Zaprochilinae They have similarly elongated bodies and prognathous head, but all species have wings They are
strongly reduced in the genus Kawanaphila, but fully
de-veloped in the remaining three genera of the subfamily Males of all 28 described species produce short, ultrasonic calls Several species of the subfamily have been extensively studied with regard to the parental investment of males, which is significant and may lead to courtship role reversal All members of the subfamily feed primarily on pollen and nectar, and they play some role in pollination of the flowers
on which they feed
In addition to the above-described subfamilies, the family Tettigoniidae also includes the following subfamilies: Aus-trosaginae, Hetrodinae, Lipotactinae, Listroscelidinae, Meco-nematinae, Mecopodinae, Microtettigoniinae, Phyllophorinae, Saginae, Hexacentrinae, and Tympanophorinae
Grasshoppers and their Relatives 727