| Gryllidae Temporal range:
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| Female Gryllus campestris | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Orthoptera |
| Suborder: | Ensifera |
| Superfamily: | Grylloidea |
| Family: | Gryllidae Laicharting, 1781[1] |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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The family Gryllidae contains the subfamilies and genera which entomologists now term true crickets. Having long, whip-like antennae, they belong to the Orthopteran suborder Ensifera, which has been greatly reduced in the last 100 years (e.g. Imms[3]): taxa such as the spider-crickets and allies, sword-tail crickets, wood or ground crickets and scaly crickets have been elevated to family level.[a] The type genus is Gryllus and the first use of the family name "Gryllidae" was by Francis Walker.[4]
They have a worldwide distribution (except Antarctica).[2] The largest members of the family are the 5 cm (2 in)-long bull crickets (Brachytrupes) which excavate burrows a metre or more deep. The tree crickets (Oecanthinae) are delicate white or pale green insects with transparent fore wings, while the field crickets (Gryllinae) are robust brown or black insects.[5]
- ^ Many taxa in the Ensifera may be called crickets sensu lato, including the Rhaphidophoridae – cave or camel crickets; Stenopelmatidae – Jerusalem or sand crickets; Mogoplistidae – scaly crickets; Gryllotalpidae – mole crickets; Anabrus – Mormon crickets; Myrmecophilidae – ant crickets; and Tettigoniidae – the bush crickets or katydids.
