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Anostostomatidae is a family of
insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s in the order Orthoptera, widely distributed in the southern hemisphere. It is named Mimnermidae or Henicidae in some taxonomies, and common names include ''king crickets'' in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
and ''wētā'' in
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
(although not all
wētā Wētā (also spelt weta) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemic to New Zealand. They are giant flightless crickets, and some are among the heaviest insects in ...
are in Anostostomatidae). Prominent members include the
Parktown prawn The Parktown prawn, African king cricket or tusked king cricket (''Libanasidus vittatus'') is a species of king cricket endemic to Southern Africa. It is unrelated to prawns, '' Libanasidus'' being insects in the order Orthoptera – cric ...
of South Africa, and the giant wētā of New Zealand. The distribution of this family reflects a common ancestry before the fragmenting of Gondwana.


General characteristics

By virtue of their ability to cope with variations in temperature, members of the family Anostostomatidae 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.


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 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 wētā have arrived in these locations since re-emergence of land. The fact that anostostomatid crickets also occur on some Japanese islands supports this possibility.


Subfamilies and Genera

The ''Orthoptera Species File'' lists the following;


Anabropsinae

Auth.: Rentz & Weissman, 1973 – Americas, Africa, India, E. Asia, Australasia * tribe Anabropsini Rentz & Weissman, 1973 ** '' Anabropsis'' Rehn, 1901 (includes subgenera '' Paterdecolyus'' Griffini, 1913, '' Apteranabropsis'' and '' Pteranabropsis'' Gorochov, 1988) ** '' Exogryllacris'' Willemse, 1963: monotypic ''E. ornata'' Willemse, 1963 - Australia ** '' Melanabropsis'' Wang & Liu, 2020 - China, Japan * tribe Brachyporini Gorochov, 2001 - Southern Africa, Australia ** '' Brachyporus'' Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888 ** '' Penalva'' Walker, 1870


Anostostomatinae

Auth.: Saussure, 1859 – Africa (including Madagascar), Australia, New Zealand * ''
Anostostoma ''Anostostoma'' is the type genus of the family Anostostomatidae and consists of five species of insect, endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, count ...
'' * '' Apotetamenus'' * '' Bochus'' * '' Borborothis'' * '' Carcinopsis'' * '' Gryllotaurus'' * '' Henicus'' Gray, 1837 * '' Libanasidus'', king crickets * '' Motuweta'', tusked wētā * '' Nasidius'' Stål, 1876 * '' Onosandridus'' * '' Onosandrus'' * '' Spizaphilus''


Cratomelinae

Auth.: Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888 – South America * '' Cratomelus'' Blanchard, 1851


Deinacridinae

Auth.: Karny, 1932 – New Zealand * '' Deinacrida'', giant wētā * '' Hemideina'', tree wētā


Leiomelinae

Auth.: Gorochov, 2001 – S. America * ''
Leiomelus ''Leiomelus'' is a genus of king crickets in the family Anostostomatidae, endemic to Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the c ...
'' Ander, 1936


Lezininae

Auth.: Karny, 1932 – N. Africa, Middle East * ''
Lezina ''Lezina'' is a cricket genus and the sole genus in the subfamily Lezininae found in northern Africa and the Middle-East; it was formerly included in the family Gryllacrididae Gryllacrididae are a family of non-jumping insects in the suborder ...
'' Walker, 1869


Lutosinae

Auth.: Gorochov, 1988 – Central & S. America, Africa, PNG * '' Apotetamenus'' Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888 * '' Hydrolutos'' Issa & Jaffe, 1999 * '' Libanasa'' Walker, 1869 * '' Licodia'' Walker, 1869 * '' Lutosa'' Walker, 1869 * '' Neolutosa'' Gorochov, 2001 * '' Papuaistus'' Griffini, 1911 * '' Rhumosa'' Hugel & Desutter-Grandcolas, 2018


Subfamily not assigned

* tribe Glaphyrosomatini Rentz & Weissman, 1973 ** '' Cnemotettix'' Caudell, 1916 ** '' Glaphyrosoma'' Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888 * ''
incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertain ...
'' ** '' Aistus'' Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888 ** '' Anisoura'' Ander, 1932 – monotypic Northland tusked wētā: ''A. nicobarica'' Ander, 1932 ** '' Coccinellomima'' Karny, 1932 – monotypic ''C. shelfordi'' Karny, 1932 ** '' Dolichochaeta'' Philippi, 1863 – monotypic ''D. longicornis'' Philippi, 1863 ** '' Gryllacropsis'' Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888 – monotypic (India) ''G. magniceps'' (Walker, 1870) ** ''
Hemiandrus ''Hemiandrus'' is a genus of wētā in the family Anostostomatidae. In New Zealand they are known as ground wētā due to their burrowing lifestyle. ''Hemiandrus'' wētā are nocturnal, and reside in these burrows during the day. Ground wētā s ...
'' Ander, 1938 - ground wētā ** '' Hypocophoides'' Karny, 1930 ** '' Hypocophus'' Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888 ** '' Leponosandrus'' Gorochov, 2001 – monotypic ''L. lepismoides'' (Walker, 1871) ** '' Transaevum'' Johns, 1997 – monotypic ''T. laudatum'' Johns, 1997


King crickets of South Africa

The best-known species is the
Parktown prawn The Parktown prawn, African king cricket or tusked king cricket (''Libanasidus vittatus'') is a species of king cricket endemic to Southern Africa. It is unrelated to prawns, '' Libanasidus'' being insects in the order Orthoptera – cric ...
, not to be confused with the well-known ''Koringkrieke'' or armoured ground crickets, which never have been in the family Anostostomatidae. '' Henicus monstrosus'' is a nocturnal anostostomatid. The males are unusual in their anatomy; their heads are disproportionately large and bear forward-directed prongs. They have extremely long, curved
mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...
s that are functional, but seem to play no part in the eating process.''African Insect Life'' - SH Skaife (Longmans Green & Co,1953)


Wētā of New Zealand

Five genera of New Zealand
wētā Wētā (also spelt weta) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemic to New Zealand. They are giant flightless crickets, and some are among the heaviest insects in ...
are part of the family Anostostomatidae: * Giant wētā (''Deinacrida'') * Ground wētā (''Hemiandrus'') * Northland tusked wētā (''Anisoura'') *
Tree wētā Tree wētā are wētā in the genus ''Hemideina'' of the family Anostostomatidae. The genus is endemic to New Zealand. There are seven species within the genus ''Hemideina'', found throughout the country except lowland Otago and Southland. Be ...
(''Hemideina'') * Tusked wētā (''Motuweta'') The cave wētā species belong to a different family, the
Rhaphidophoridae The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae of the suborder Ensifera has a worldwide distribution. Common names for these insects include cave wētā, cave crickets, camelback crickets, camel crickets, Hogan bugs, spider crickets (sometimes shorten ...
.


Literature

* * 1997: The Gondwanaland weta: family Anostostomatidae (formerly in Stenopelmatidae, Henicidae or Mimnermidae): nomenclatural problems, world checklist, new genera and species. ''Journal of Orthoptera Research'', 6: 125–138. ,


References


External links


Family Anostostomatidae Saussure, 1859
at Orthoptera Species File Online {{Taxonbar, from=Q675845 Orthoptera families