Anostostomatidae
Encyclopedia
Anostostomatidae is a family in the order Orthoptera
. It is sometimes referred to as Mimnermidae or Henicidae in some taxonomies, and common names include King crickets in South Africa
, and wetas
in New Zealand
. They are believed to be most closely related to the Jerusalem cricket
s of North America
. Prominent members includes the Parktown prawn
of South Africa, and the giant weta
s of New Zealand. The cave wetas belong to another family
, the Rhaphidophoridae
. Their distribution reflects a common ancestry before the fragmenting of Gondwanaland.
By virtue of their ability to cope with variations in temperature, members of the Anostostomatidae family can be found in a variety of environments including alpine, forests, grasslands, shrub lands and urban gardens. The family is widely distributed across southern hemisphere lands including South America, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. They are nocturnal and many are flightless although several flying species exist in Australia. The diet is diverse, rarely consisting of leaves, and more commonly a combination of other insects, fungi, dead animals, and fruit. An Australian king cricket can overpower and eat funnel-web spiders.
Henicus monstrosus is a nocturnal armoured ground cricket of unusual appearance, having an oversized head and extremely long, curved pair of jaws which seem to play no part in the eating process. Hidden below its large upper lip, though, is an efficient and strong set of jaws.
. Weta are known to arc their hind legs into the air in warning to foes and use acoustic communication (stridulation) to signal to one another .
Orthoptera
Orthoptera is an order of insects with paurometabolous or incomplete metamorphosis, including the grasshoppers, crickets and locusts.Many insects in this order produce sound by rubbing their wings against each other or their legs, the wings or legs containing rows of corrugated bumps...
. It is sometimes referred to as Mimnermidae or Henicidae in some taxonomies, and common names include King crickets in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and wetas
Weta
Weta is the name given to about 70 insect species endemic to New Zealand. There are many similar species around the world, though most are in the southern hemisphere. The name comes from the Māori word 'wētā' and is the same in the plural...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. They are believed to be most closely related to the Jerusalem cricket
Jerusalem cricket
Jerusalem crickets, are a group of large, flightless insects of the genus Stenopelmatus. They are native to the western United States and parts of Mexico....
s of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Prominent members includes the Parktown prawn
Parktown prawn
The Parktown prawn aka Parkmore prawn aka Parkhurst prawn, Libanasidus vittatus, is a monotypic species of king cricket found in Southern Africa. Although a member of the cricket order Orthoptera, it is placed in the family Anostostomatidae, separate from that of the true crickets, Gryllidae...
of South Africa, and the giant weta
Giant weta
Giant wetas are species of weta in the genus Deinacrida of the family Anostostomatidae. Giant wetas are endemic to New Zealand, and are examples of island gigantism....
s of New Zealand. The cave wetas belong to another family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
, the Rhaphidophoridae
Rhaphidophoridae
The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae includes the cave wetas, cave crickets, camelback crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets and sand treaders, of the suborder Ensifera; in some regions, such as Missouri and Virginia, these crickets are referred to as "Cricket Spiders"...
. Their distribution reflects a common ancestry before the fragmenting of Gondwanaland.
General characteristics
Taxonomy and evolution
At least one Cretaceous fossil of an anostostomatid-like cricket is known from Australia but has not been described. The modern distribution of this family on lands in the southern hemisphere has led to speculation that members of this group owe their distribution to the breakup of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. This may be the case but evidence for the large scale if not total submergence of continental crust in the New Zealand and New Caledonian region in the Oligocene, indicates the possibility that weta have arrived in these locations at least, since re-emergence of land. The fact that anostostomatid crickets also occur on some Japanese islands supports this possibility.The King Crickets or Koringkrieke of South Africa
There are some two dozen species of these armoured ground crickets in Africa, and they are widespread and common in drier areas. Mostly nocturnal, they are alike in habits and robust appearance, their differences being mainly in their size and the arrangement of their spiny armour. All may squirt a smelly fluid from the thorax if roughly handled, and can inflict a sharp, non-poisonous bite. They shuffle along rather clumsily and are incapable of flight, though males do retain stubby wings under the shield on the thorax and produce a rasping noise by rubbing these together rapidly. They may also make a noise by rubbing their mandibles against their second set of jaws. Females have a conspicuous ovipositor consisting of a number of slender blades, pressed together to form a flattened tube. Males often sport an enormous pair of mandibles which, while appearing formidable, are quite feeble.Henicus monstrosus is a nocturnal armoured ground cricket of unusual appearance, having an oversized head and extremely long, curved pair of jaws which seem to play no part in the eating process. Hidden below its large upper lip, though, is an efficient and strong set of jaws.
The wetas of New Zealand
New Zealand had no native land mammals apart from native bats immediately before humans arrived, but Miocene fossils indicate terrestrial mammals probably existed at that time. In New Zealand, anostostomatid crickets (weta) are ecologically diverse and occupy a wide range of habitat types. Some genera are primarily predators or scavenger, whilst others - notably the so-called tree weta Hemideina and their close relatives the giant weta Deinacrida - can bite. Tree weta bites are not particularly common. They can also inflict painful scratches with the potential of infectionInfection
An infection is the colonization of a host organism by parasite species. Infecting parasites seek to use the host's resources to reproduce, often resulting in disease...
. Weta are known to arc their hind legs into the air in warning to foes and use acoustic communication (stridulation) to signal to one another .
The five weta groups in New Zealand
- Giant wetas
- Tree wetas
- Tusked wetasMotuwetaMotuweta is a genus consisting of two species of tusked weta in the family Anostostomatidae, endemic to New Zealand.-Species:* Motuweta isolata Johns, 1997 Middle Island tusked weta* Motuweta riparia Gibbs, 2002 Raukumara tusked weta...
and Northland tusked wetas - Ground wetasHemiandrusHemiandrus is a genus of weta in the family Anostostomatidae. They are endemic to New Zealand and are known as ground wetas.-Species:* Hemiandrus bilobatus Ander, 1938* Hemiandrus fiordensis...
- Cave wetasRhaphidophoridaeThe orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae includes the cave wetas, cave crickets, camelback crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets and sand treaders, of the suborder Ensifera; in some regions, such as Missouri and Virginia, these crickets are referred to as "Cricket Spiders"...
(in another family)
Subfamilies and genera
- Subfamily Anostostomatinae Saussure, 1859
- Aistus
- Anabropsis
- Anostostoma
- Apotetamenus
- Apteranabropsis
- Bochus
- Borborothis
- Brachyporus
- Carcinopsis
- Cnemotettix
- Cratomelus
- Exogryllacris
- Glaphyrosoma
- Gryllotaurus
- HemiandrusHemiandrusHemiandrus is a genus of weta in the family Anostostomatidae. They are endemic to New Zealand and are known as ground wetas.-Species:* Hemiandrus bilobatus Ander, 1938* Hemiandrus fiordensis...
Ground wetas - Henicus
- Hydrolutos
- Hypocophoides
- Hypocophus
- Leponosandrus
- Libanasa
- Libanasidus King crickets
- Licodia
- Lutosa
- MotuwetaMotuwetaMotuweta is a genus consisting of two species of tusked weta in the family Anostostomatidae, endemic to New Zealand.-Species:* Motuweta isolata Johns, 1997 Middle Island tusked weta* Motuweta riparia Gibbs, 2002 Raukumara tusked weta...
Tusked wetas - Nasidius
- Neolutosa
- Onosandridus
- Onosandrus
- Papuaistus
- Paterdecolyus
- Penalva
- Spizaphilus
- Subfamily Deinacridinae
- Anisoura Tusked wetas
- Deinacrida Giant wetas
- Gryllacropsis (from India, only tentatively assigned to Deinacridinae)
- Hemideina Tree wetas
- Subfamily Leiomelinae
- LeiomelusLeiomelusLeiomelus is a genus of king crickets in the family Anostostomatidae, endemic to Chile.-Species:* Leiomelus armiger Ander, 1939* Leiomelus brunneifrons Ander, 1936* Leiomelus capito * Leiomelus denticauda Ander, 1936...
- Leiomelus