The Hexacentrinae, are a subfamily of predatory
bush crickets or katydids. The type genus is Hexacentrus, which may be known as "balloon-winged" bush crickets/katydids etc., is also the most speciose and widespread in Africa and Asia.[2][3]
Description
The group has sometimes been treated as a tribe (as "Hexacentrini") within
Conocephalinae, which may be a sister group.[2][1]
A.V. Gorochov described the following characters for this subfamily:[1]
rostrum of head narrow with simple, moderately long mandibles, without distinct sexual dimorphism;
flat, wide hind lobe of the
pronotum with thoracic sternites having a pair of spines or finger-like processes;
fore and middle legs have tibiae with long spines, especially on the ventral surface (for predation);
hind wings (if not shortened) with developed “costal lobe”, and a characteristic thickened crossvein;
anal plate and
epiproct rather simple (no distinct specializations) in both sexes, but male
paraprocts have a finger-like process or distinct lobule at their apex.
Genera and Distribution
As of July 2022[update], the Orthoptera Species File lists the following tribes and genera:[2]
South American tribes
Genera have been placed in two tribes, mostly from Ecuador.[2]