The

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 ...

Stenopelmatidae is composed of large, mostly flightless

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 pairs ...

s resembling crickets (the family

Gryllidae The family ''Gryllidae'' contains the subfamilies and genera which entomologists now term true crickets. Having long, whip-like antennae, they belong to the Orthopteran suborder Ensifera, which has been greatly reduced in the last 100 years (''e ...

). Two genera: ''

Ammopelmatus ''Ammopelmatus'' is a genus of insects in the family Stenopelmatidae, one of two genera of large, flightless insects referred to commonly as Jerusalem crickets (or "potato bugs"). They are native to southwestern United States and northwestern Me ...

'' and the type genus ''

Stenopelmatus ''Stenopelmatus'' is one of two genera of large, flightless insects referred to commonly as Jerusalem crickets (or "potato bugs"). They are primarily native to Central America, and one species is known from Ecuador.D.B. Weissman, A.G. Vandergast ...

'' are found in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

. ''

Oryctopus ''Oryctopus''Brunner von Wattenwyl (1888) ''Verh. der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellsch. Wien'' 38: 266. is a genus of insect in the subfamily Stenopelmatinae Stenopelmatinae is the sole subfamily in the family Stenopelmatidae. There are about 7 ...

'' and ''

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

'' are

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

genera, and previously placed in their own subfamilies (see below), but with the addition of new genera, current placement is as five tribes in the single subfamily

Stenopelmatinae Stenopelmatinae is the sole subfamily in the family Stenopelmatidae. There are about 7 genera and more than 50 described species in Stenopelmatinae. The species of this subfamily found in the New World are called Jerusalem crickets, making up th ...

Classification

The classification and constituency of Stenopelmatidae is an ongoing source of controversy, with different authorities proposing radically different arrangements. Until recently, the majority of researchers appeared to accept a major

lineage as the subfamily

, with smaller

lineages and fossil groups also treated as subfamilies.Vandergast, A.G., Weissman, D.B., Wood, D.A., Rentz, D.C., Bazelet, C.S., and Ueshima, N. (2017) Tackling an intractable problem: Can greater taxon sampling help resolve relationships within the Stenopelmatoidea (Orthoptera: Ensifera)? ''Zootaxa'' 4291, no. 1, p. 1. DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.4291.1.1 At least one other authority, working exclusively with morphological characters, has instead repeatedly proposed that Stenopelmatidae contains the family

Gryllacrididae Gryllacrididae are a family of non-jumping insects in the suborder Ensifera occurring worldwide, known commonly as leaf-rolling crickets or raspy crickets. The family historically has been broadly defined to include what are presently several oth ...

as a subfamily, and also the entire superfamily

Schizodactyloidea Schizodactylidae is a family of orthopteran insects found in Asia and southern Africa, known as dune crickets or splay-footed crickets. They are usually found in desert and sandy areas. Species are predatory, including ''Schizodactylus inexspecta ...

, similarly reduced to the rank of subfamily (e.g. Gorochov, A.V. (2020) The families Stenopelmatidae and Anostostomatidae (Orthoptera). 1. Higher classification, new and little known taxa. ''Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie'' 99: 905–961 (In Russian).), a result explicitly rejected by other researchers. In this morphological classification, the entire historical constituency of Stenopelmatidae is reduced to a single subfamily, with the former subfamilies all reduced to tribal rank. As such, the majority of classifications have until recently recognized the following groups (with the genus ''

Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 283 – 28 October 312) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized ...

'' only removed from inclusion within the genus ''

'' in 2021): * monotypic subfamily Oryctopinae Kevan, 1986 ** Tribe Oryctopini Kevan, 1986 *** Genus ''

'' Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1888 * obsolete subfamily

Siinae ''Sia''Giebel (1861) ''Zeitschr. gesam. Naturwiss.'' 18: 114. is a genus of Orthopteran insects in the family Stenopelmatidae The family Stenopelmatidae is composed of large, mostly flightless insects resembling crickets (the family Gryllidae) ...

Gorochov, 1988 ** Genus ''

'' Stal, 1876 ** Genus ''

'' Giebel, 1861 * previously as subfamily Stenopelmatinae Burmeister, 1838 and now tribe

Stenopelmatini Jerusalem crickets (or potato bugs) are a group of large, flightless insects in the genera ''Ammopelmatus'' and ''Stenopelmatus'', together comprising the tribe Stenopelmatini. The former genus is native to the western United States and parts o ...

** Genus ''

'' Tinkham, 1965 ** Genus ''

'' Burmeister, 1838 Note: * the genera '' Electrosia'' Gorochov, 2010 and ''

Macrelcana ''Macrelcana ungeri'' is an extinct orthopteran insect from the Miocene epoch (~12 mya). It belongs to the same family as wetas and potato bugs (Stenopelmatidae). References Stenopelmatoidea Insects described in 1838 Prehistoric insect gen ...

'' Karny, 1932 are now placed in the family

Elcanidae Elcanidae are an extinct family of Mesozoic and early Cenozoic orthopterans. Members of the family are distinguished by the presence of spurs on the distal part of the metatibia, unique among orthopterans, these have been suggested to have been ...

. * genus '' Zeuneroptera'' Sharov, 1962 is now placed in the family Palaeorehniidae.

References

Orthoptera families Stenopelmatoidea {{stenopelmatidae-stub