The Paroecanthini crickets (Orthoptera: Grylloidea: Gryllidae: Oecanthinae) from French Guiana

The fifth family of the true crickets (Insecta: Orthoptera: Ensifera: Grylloidea), Oecanthidae defin. nov.: phylogenetic relationships and divergence times

Crickets are frequently used as a model in several areas of science, including acoustic communication, behaviour and neurobiology. However, only a few of these studies are placed in an evolutionary framework due to the limited number of phylogenetic hypotheses for true crickets. We present a phylogenetic hypothesis for a newly defined family of crickets, Oecanthidae defin. nov., sister-group of Gryllidae defin. nov. The phylogenetic analyses are based on molecular and morphological data under likelihood and parsimony criteria and molecular data for divergence-times estimation (Bayesian inference). We used 107 terminals from all biogeographic regions and six fossils for the time calibration of the tree. All analyses resulted in Oecanthidae with four subfamilies: Euscyrtinae, Oecanthinae defin. nov., Podoscirtinae defin. nov. and Tafaliscinae defin. nov. Based on our results, we revise the definition and internal classifications of the subfamilies, supertribes and tribes. A new tribe, Phyllogryllini trib. nov. is described. We also update their diagnoses, list the genera of the tribes and list their apomorphies. We provide an identification key for all suprageneric taxa of Oecanthidae, plus all genera of Tafaliscinae. Finally, we discuss the phylogenetic relationships of Oecanthidae, their divergence times, habitat diversity and the importance of ovipositor variation in this clade.

The Oldest Representatives of Tree Crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae; Oecanthinae) from Northern Myanmar

Simple Summary

Two new genera and two new species of Oecanthinae (Gryllidae) are described that are from northern Myanmar amber. They are the oldest representatives of tree crickets, supporting the previous estimation of the origin of Oecanthinae by molecular data. These new findings improve our knowledge of the evolution of the Gryllidae.

Abstract

The abundance of insects in Burmese amber illustrates a highly diverse insect community of the mid-Cretaceous, but the records of crickets are relatively rare. Here, we erect two new genera with two new species, Birmanioecanthus haplostichus gen. et sp. nov. and Apiculatus cretaceus gen. et sp. nov., based on two new specimens from northern Myanmar amber. These new species can be assigned to the subfamily Oecanthinae (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) by their prognathous head, slender body and metatibiae, and protibiae with large tympana. These new findings are the first and earliest fossil record of tree crickets and shed light on the evolution of Oecanithinae.

New species of tree cricket Oecanthus Serville, 1831 (Orthoptera: Grylloidea) from Southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest, with bioacoustics

Tree Crickets, Oecanthus Serville, 1831 have a worldwide distribution, and are known as Tree Crickets because they are common in the treetops, even though many species occur in different strata of forest, and also in open fields. In this work we describe a new species of Oecanthus from Southern Brazil, based on the most significant diagnostic structures in the ocanthine taxonomy, such as the phallic sclerites and metanotal gland morphology, as well as calling song. The new species herein described has a distinct faint red spot between the eyes, a metanotal gland with a triangular posterior median lobe with the apex curved up and forward, the median lophi of pseudepiphallus slightly elongate with an U-shaped invagination, and the ectophallic distal arc prolongation with the posterior apex U-bifurcated. The calling song stands out among the local stridulating crickets for alternate a regular and an irregular train of chirps. Illustrations of the external morphology, information about type specimens, material examined, measurements, and spectrogram of the calling and courtship songs is provided.