The Pneumoridae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

of nocturnal short-horned

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

s in the order

Orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grassho ...

, commonly known as the bladder grasshoppers and the sole representative of the superfamily Pneumoroidea. Their

centre of diversity A center of origin is a geographical area where a group of organisms, either domesticated or wild, first developed its distinctive properties. They are also considered centers of diversity. Centers of origin were first identified in 1924 by Ni ...

is in

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

, but one species occurs as far north as

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

. Most adult males acquire an inflated abdomen, a specialization for amplified sound production, which is likely its primary function. Most genera display striking

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

, and several species exhibit a dual male

phenotype In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological proper ...

Description

They are nocturnal, specialized herbivores which (with few exceptions) are endemic to coastal regions of

. The smallest species is '' Pneumoracris browni'' occurring in the Succulent Karoo ecoregion, while the largest is the wide-ranging

Afromontane The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions ...

forest species, '' Physophorina livingstoni''.

Sexual dimorphism

The body length of adult males vary from 11.5 to 68.0 mm, and that of females from 22.0 to 107 mm. Males of a particular species may or may not have an inflated body with fully developed wings, or both morphs may be present. Males have large ocelli, a prominently crested pronotum, and are smaller in size. Females' bodies are larger and not inflated, and possess only reduced elytra and wings. Female ocelli are vestigial and the pronotum is more tectiform, while the sound-producing mechanism is entirely different.

Males

Adult males of most species acquire an inflated, bladder-like abdomen at the final molt. Their abdominal segments consist of a thin, semitransparent integument, and are enlarged in length and width, while the intersegmental membranes are much reduced. Males are capable of producing loud calls, a long and very deep rasping noise, which members of their species can detect from 2 km away. Males call by stridulating the rasp on the inner surface of their rather weak hind femur against an opposing rasp on the third tergite of the inflated, hollow abdomen. These sclerotized abdominal ridges form a crescent-like row, and their exact number has some value in distinguishing between taxa. In species without an inflated body, these characters are only vestigial. The wings of males have a primitive morphology, and are not suited to producing sound. Their wing venation is in fact the simplest of all the

Acridoidea Acridoidea is the largest superfamily of grasshoppers in the order Orthoptera with species found on every continent except Antarctica. Classification ''Orthoptera Species File'' includes the following families: *Acrididae MacLeay, 1821 * Deric ...

Females

Females reply by duetting. They employ a different sound mechanism to produce a distinguishable call, sometimes described as a high squeak, and perhaps only partially audible to humans. This is perhaps produced by rubbing strong wing veinlets armed with strong teeth against the abdomen, which is facilitated or accompanied by raising the pronotum at a high angle.

Ecology

Within one species, a primary (plesiomorph) and alternative (apomorph) male form with differing mating strategies can arise. Details of these morphs were the basis for the description of two subfamilies, namely Pneumorinae (Dirsh 1975) and Parabullacrinae (Dirsh 1975). Three groups are distinguishable on the basis of their ecology, namely a forest, marginal, and desert group, of which the forest species are the most primitive.

Genera and species

List of genera and species: Genus '' Bullacris'' Roberts, 1941 * '' B. boschimana'' (Péringuey) :Range:

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

* '' B. discolor'' (Thunberg) :Range:

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

and

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

, Habitat: Fynbos :Phenotype: Inflated and uninflated males * '' B. intermedia'' (Péringuey) :Range: Eastern Cape and

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

* '' B. membracoides'' (Walker) :Range: Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

, Habitat: Savanna :Phenotype: Inflated and uninflated males * '' B. obliqua'' (Thunberg) :Range: Western Cape, Habitat: Fynbos :Phenotype: Inflated and uninflated males * '' B. serrata'' (Thunberg) :Range: Western Cape and Eastern Cape * '' B. unicolor'' (Linnaeus) :Range: Cape provinces, Habitat: Succulent Karoo :Phenotype: Only inflated males Genus '' Parabullacris'' Dirsh, 1963 * '' P. vansoni'' Disrch :Range: Northern Cape, Habitat: Succulent Karoo :Phenotype: Only uninflated males Genus '' Physemacris'' Roberts, 1941 * '' P. papilosus'' (Fabricius) :Range: Western Cape * '' P. variolosus'' (Linnaeus) :Range: Western Cape, Habitat: Fynbos :Phenotype: Only inflated males Genus '' Paraphysemacris'' Dirsh, 1963 * '' P. spinosus'' Dirsh :Range: Cape provinces, Habitat: Fynbos :Phenotype: Only uninflated males Genus '' Peringueyiacris'' Dirsh, 1965 * '' P. namaqua'' (Péringuey) :Range: Northern Cape, Habitat: Succulent Karoo :Phenotype: Only inflated males Genus '' Pneumoracris'' Dirsh, 1963 * '' P. browni'' Dirsh :Range: Northern Cape, Habitat: Succulent Karoo :Phenotype: Only uninflated males Genus '' Prostallia'' Bolivar, 1906 * '' P. granulata'' (Stål) :Range: KwaZulu-Natal and

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

Genus '' Physophorina'' Westwood, 1874 * '' P. livingstoni'' Westwood :Range: South Africa,

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

and

, Habitat: Forest :Phenotype: Only inflated males * '' P. miranda'' (Péringuey) :Range: South Africa and

, Habitat: Forest :Phenotype: Only inflated males Genus '' Pneumora'' Thunberg, 1775 * '' P. inanis'' (Fabricius) :Range: South Africa and Tanzania, Habitat: Forest :Phenotype: Only inflated males

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q3392860 Orthoptera families Taxa named by Émile Blanchard