Ornebius is a genus of
crickets in the family
Mogoplistidae and the tribe
Arachnocephalini, erected by
Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville in 1844.[1] Species may be called "common scaled crickets" and have widespread records of distribution, which are discontinuous (and probably incomplete); they include: Africa, Asia, Australia, islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and South America.[2]
Description
Ornebius (at least the Australian species) are >7.5 mm in length. The
tegmen posterior margin has either a continuous black or brown band or three darkened areas. The tibiae of the fore and mid legs are banded. The genital processes are brown to pale brown or whitish. In males, the last abdominal segment is not black between the
cerci, and the front of the mirror is not hidden beneath the pronotum.[3][4]
This genus can be divided into at least seven species groups, with other genera currently (2023) incertae sedis. The Australian fauna comprise three of these groups:[3][4]
The Abminga Group have the fore and mid leg tibiae unbanded or only faintly banded, the face not strongly banded, the tenth abdominal tergite without tufts of setae, and the forewings with a continuous dark band on the posterior margin and anteriorly with one or three dark spots.
The Illaroo Group have the fore and mid leg tibiae strongly banded, the face usually with contrasting markings, the tenth abdominal tergite usually with two tufts of setae near its centre, and the forewings usually with two or three dark markings on the posterior margin (with indistinct dark markings scattered over the remainder).
The Wandella Group have the fore and mid leg tibiae only faintly banded, the face not strongly banded, the tenth abdominal tergite usually with two tufts of setae near its centre, and the forewings usually with two or three dark markings on the posterior margin (with indistinct dark markings scattered over the remainder).