| Stenopelmatidae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Stenopelmatus fuscus | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Orthoptera |
| Suborder: | Ensifera |
| Superfamily: | Stenopelmatoidea |
| Family: | Stenopelmatidae Burmeister, 1838 |
| Genera | |
see text | |
Stenopelmatidae is afamily of large, mostly flightlessorthopterans that includes theJerusalem crickets. Two genera:Ammopelmatus and the type genusStenopelmatus are found in theNew World.Oryctopus andSia areOld World 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 subfamilyStenopelmatinae.[1]
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 majorNew World lineage as the subfamilyStenopelmatinae, with smallerOld World lineages and fossil groups also treated as subfamilies.[2] At least one other authority, working exclusively with morphological characters, has instead repeatedly proposed that Stenopelmatidae contains the familyGryllacrididae as a subfamily, and also the entire superfamilySchizodactyloidea, similarly reduced to the rank of subfamily (e.g.[3]), a result explicitly rejected by other researchers.[2] 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 genusMaxentius only removed from inclusion within the genusSia in 2021):
Note:
Media related toStenopelmatidae at Wikimedia Commons