XV. SOUTH AMERICAN CRICKETS, GRYLLOTALPOIDEA, 

 AND ACHETOIDEA. 



By Lawrence Bruner. 



As in the case of my four former papers on the Orthoptera of Brazil 

 and surrounding portions of South America, published in these 

 Annals, the present paper is based upon material belonging to the 

 Carnegie Museum. The collections as a whole are rather rich in 

 forms, and permit of a fairly comprehensive treatment of the South 

 American orthopteran fauna. The present paper contains descrip- 

 tions of a number of apparently new forms. While not presenting a 

 complete synopsis of the crickets of South America, I have included 

 a number of synoptical tables for the separation of families, genera, 

 and in some instances of species as well. 



There has been a tendency among systematic entomologists during 

 the past few years to consider the orthopteroid insects as being of 

 more than ordinal value. The present writer, as a result of a study 

 of the group, shares this opinion. In a recent paper^ he has given his 

 views in a synoptical key or table compiled from several sources. 

 This table is presented herewith and shows the relationships of the 

 several groups of insects which he would include under the term 

 "orthopteroid insects." 



Synopsis of the* Orders and Suborders of Orthopteroid Insects. 



A. Tarsi normally five-jointed. 



b. Cerci distinctly segmented or jointed. 



c. Apterous, structure thysanuran. Eyes small, with few facets. Ovi- 

 positor of female exserted. Terrestrial, subterranean, dwellers among 



rocks in darkness [Alberta, Canada] Order Grylloblattaria. 



cc. Normally winged, but frequently with those organs subobsolete or 



entirely missing. Structure not thysanuran. Ovipositor of 



female not exserted. 



d. Eggs contained in a capsule, or ootheca, sometimes carried by the 



female. Insects not social. Species represented only by males 



and females. 



' A Preliminary Catalogue of the Orthopteroid Insects of the Philippine Islands 

 (University Studies, Vol. XV, No. 2, pp. 195-281, Lincoln, Neb., 1915.) 



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