Subclass Pterygota:
Pterous (winged) insects, develop by metamorphosis
Division Exopterygota
(exo = outer; pteron = wing)
Orthopteroid orders
(orthos = straight; pteron = wing)
Order Orthoptera
(orthos = straight; pteron = wing)
COMMON NAMES: grasshoppers, locusts, katydids, crickets.
QUICK DESCRIPTION: Orthoptera have long, strong legs which they use for jumping. They have two sets of wings, but the front set is hardened and used for protection as well as for flying. (Males also use their legs and the rough parts of their wings to make the characteristic cricket "chirruping" noise.) They have large eyes and large chewing mouthparts, and the size of antennae varies depending on the species. [Locusts and grasshoppers are the same species: find out more.]
MINUTE DETAILS: Medium-sized to large, winged brachypterous or apterous insects; head with mandibulate mouthparts, well-developed compound eyes, either long or relatively short antennae; prothorax large, hindlegs in almost all species enlarged for jumping; coxae small and widely spaced, tarsi usually three- or four-segmented, when present fore wings usually forming thickened tegmina; females usually with well-developed exposed ovipositor, males with concealed copulatory structures, cerci short to moderately long and unsegmented; auditory and stridulatory organs very often present.
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