Thericleidae

Thericleidae
Thericleid female from Tanzania
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Division: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Caelifera
Infraorder: Acrididea
Superfamily: Eumastacoidea
Family: Thericleidae
Burr, 1899
Genera

see text

Unidentified wingless species of Thericleidae, showing characteristic "horse-head" and stubby antennae

The Thericleidae are a family within the order Orthoptera. They are short-horned grasshoppers (meaning that they are in the suborder Caelifera), and in fact they have exceptionally stubby antennae even for the Caelifera. Most species have a characteristic "horse-headed" look in profile.

The family occurs in Africa,[1][2] most members living in small trees and shrubs rather than forbs or grasses.[3]

The type genus is Thericles Stål, 1875.[4] They are obscure insects, not well known to the public, but none the less have a few common names, including "monkey grasshoppers", whether because of the head shape, or because they are very agile in leaping about among the twigs of the trees they inhabit, is not clear. They also are called "bush hoppers, a name they share with the closely related Euschmidtiidae.

There are several subfamilies:

Genera

It has over fifty genera, including the following:

References

  1. ↑ "Thericleidae: Overview". Encyclopedia of Life.
  2. ↑ Descamps, Marius (1977). "Monographie des Thericleidae (Orthoptera Acridomorpha Eumastacoidea)". Sciences zoologiques No. 216. Tervuren, Belgium: Musee royal de l'Afrique centrale. OCLC 6358616.
  3. ↑ Alan Weaving; Mike Picker; Griffiths, Charles Llewellyn (2003). Field Guide to Insects of South Africa. New Holland Publishers, Ltd. ISBN 1-86872-713-0.
  4. ↑ "Family Thericleidae Burr, 1899". Orthoptera Species File. Archived from the original on 18 June 2014.
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