This article is about the orthopteran suborder. For the blowfly genus with a similar name, see Calliphora.CaeliferaTemporal range: Changhsingian–Present PreꞒꞒOSDCPTJKPgN

A pygmy mole-cricket

Red-legged grasshopperScientific classificationEdit this classificationKingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ArthropodaClade: PancrustaceaClass: InsectaOrder: OrthopteraSuborder: CaeliferaAnder, 1939Infraorders[1]AcridideaTridactylideaThe Caelifera are a suborder of orthopteran insects.[2] They include the grasshoppers and grasshopper-like insects, as well as other superfamilies classified with them: the ground-hoppers (Tetrigoidea) and pygmy mole crickets (Tridactyloidea). The latter should not be confused with the mole crickets (Gryllotalpidae), which belong to the other Orthopteran suborder Ensifera.

The name of this suborder comes from Latin meaning chisel-bearing (chisel in Latin: caelum),[3] referring to the stout shape of its species' ovipositors.[4]

Subdivisions and their distributionThe Caelifera include some 2,400 valid genera and about 12,000 known species. Many undescribed species probably exist, especially in tropical forests. The Caelifera have a predominantly tropical distribution (as with most Orthoptera) with fewer species known from temperate climate zones. Caelifera are divided into two infraorders: the Tridactylidea and the Acrididea, or grasshopper-like species. This latter name is derived from older sources, such as Imms,[5] which placed the short-horned grasshoppers and locusts at the family level (Acrididae).

Infraorder TridactylideaTridactyloidea Brullé, 1835: pygmy mole crickets[6] - all continents except AntarcticaDzhajloutshelloidea Gorochov, 1994 †Infraorder Acrididea[7][8]Tetrigoidea (monotypic) Serville, 1838: groundhoppers[6] or grouse locusts[5] - all continents except AntarcticaInformal superfamily group Acridomorpha - the grasshoppersAcridoidea MacLeay, 1821: most grasshoppers – World-wide - approx. 10,000 species in the Acrididae aloneEumastacoidea Burr, 1899: monkey grasshoppers - Americas, Africa, Australasia†Locustopsoidea Handlirsch, 1906†Locustopsidae†LocustavidaePneumoroidea Blanchard, 1845: bladder grasshoppers - AfricaProscopioidea Serville, 1838 - south AmericaPyrgomorphoidea (monotypic) B. von Wattenwyl, 1882: gaudy grasshoppers - all tropical/subtropical continentsTanaoceroidea (monotypic) Rehn, 1948: desert long-horned grasshoppers - north AmericaTrigonopterygoidea Walker, 1870: razor-backed bush-hoppers - Central America, south-east AsiaAffiliationsThe phylogeny of the Caelifera, is described in detail for grasshoppers, with six out of eight extant superfamilies shown here as a cladogram. Like the Ensifera, Caelifera and all of its superfamilies appear to be monophyletic.[2][9]