King Cricket

Anostostomatidae is a family of insects 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 and ''wētā'' in New Zealand (although not all wētā are in Anostostomatidae). Prominent members include the Parktown prawn 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''
* '' 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'' Ander, 1936

Lezininae

Auth.: Karny, 1932 – N. Africa, Middle East
* ''Lezina'' 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''
** '' 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'' 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, 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 mandibles 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 are part of the family Anostostomatidae:
* Giant wētā (''Deinacrida'')
* Ground wētā (''Hemiandrus'')
* Northland tusked wētā (''Anisoura'')
* Tree wētā (''Hemideina'')
* Tusked wētā (''Motuweta'')

The cave wētā species belong to a different family, the Rhaphidophoridae.

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