Orthoptera

Insects within the Order Orthoptera are often called grasshoppers and crickets but have many other names such as locusts and katydids. Grasshoppers and crickets often posses large hind legs which they use for jumping.

Many species are capable of "singing". In grasshoppers this is often achieved by rubbing the legs together or against the side of the body. In crickets it is often the wings that are rubbed together to make a distinctive call. Orthopterists (people specialising in the study of grasshoppers and crickets) can often identify individual species from their calls.

The field grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus) is one of the commonest species in the UK.

Other names for (or types of) Orthoptera include:

• Crickets
• Grasshoppers

Related terms

• Fossorial
• Jerusalem Cricket
• Katydid
• Locust
• Saltatorial
• Stridulation
• Tegmina
• Weta

Related groups of terms

• Insect Orders

Related pages on this web site

• Cricket caresheet
• Grasshoppers and Crickets - Order Orthoptera

See other words beginning with O