Tettigonioidea

Tettigonioidea 

a superfamily of insects in the order Or-thoptera. The hind legs are for leaping. The elytra (if developed) cover the body like a roof. Either the male alone may have organs for sound production (Tettigoniidae family), or both sexes may have them (family Bradyporidae). The Pseudotet-tigonioidea used to be included in Tettigonioidea but now are considered a separate superfamily, the Gryllacridoidea. There are approximately 7,000 species, found in countries with warm and temperate climates.

The USSR has more than 200 species; the most common usually belong to the subfamilies Phaneropterinae and Tet-tigoniinae. Some species eat vegetation; others consume both plant and animal food; and still others are predators. Typical dwelling places are forest edges and brush thickets; some species live in burrows, in caves, and under rocks. They hibernate in the egg phase; larvae hatch in the spring, and wing formation and egg laying take place in the summer. The larvae develop in one to two months, moulting five to eight times during that period. The life cycle is completed within a year, or it may be extended to two years (or several) by an embryonal diapause.

The superfamily has pests that harm cultivated plants in mountainous areas (the Crimea, the Caucasus, Middle Asia). In drought years when natural plant life dries up, these pests move into fields and heavily damage grain crops, tobacco, and vineyards. Common species in the USSR are Tettigonia viridissima and Decticus verrucivorus. Countermeasures include using poison baits, dusting and spraying with insecticides, proper agrotechnology, and destruction of natural locations by bringing infested areas under agricultural cultivation.

REFERENCES

Opredelitel’nasekomykh Evropeiskoi chasti SSSR, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1964.
Bei-Bienko, G. Ia. Obshchaia entomologiia, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1971.

G. IA. BEI-BIENKO