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Family: Pneumoridae
(bladder grasshoppers)
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta >
Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Ecdysozoa
> Panarthropoda > Tritocerebra > Phylum:
Arthopoda > Mandibulata >
Atelocerata > Panhexapoda >
Hexapoda
> Insecta (insects) > Dicondyla > Pterygota >
Metapterygota > Neoptera > Polyneoptera > Anartioptera >
Orthopterida > Orthoptera > Caelifera
> Acrididea > Acridomorpha > Acridoidea
All nine genera and 17 species of bladder grasshoppers occur in
southern Africa and all except one species are endemic to this
region. The one exception is
Physophorina livingstonii, which has a distribution extending from
Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Angola to Tanzania. Within southern Africa,
most of the species occur in the fynbos and Namaqualand (Northern
Cape). The most distinctive feature of this family is
the hugely inflated abdomen of the male, used in amplifying the sound it makes by rubbing
a line of ridges on the inside of its hind-femur against a crescent-shaped line of ridges
on the side of the abdomen. This method of sound production produces a very loud noise
that can be heard up to 1.9 km away (van Staaden & Römer, 1997).
Genera native to southern Africa
List from
Orthoptera Species
File.
Bullacris
Seven species, all endemic to southern Africa. |
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Parabullacris
One species, Parabullacris vansoni, endemic to southern Africa. |
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Paraphysemacris
One species, Paraphysemacris spinosus, endemic to southern Africa. |
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Peringueyacris
One species, Peringueyacris namaqua, endemic to southern Africa. |
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Physemacris
Two species: Physemacris papillosa and
Physemacris variolosa, both
endemic to southern Africa. |
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Physophorina
Two species:
Physophorina livingstonii (Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique northwards
to Tanzania) and
Physophorina miranda (endemic to southern Africa). |
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Pneumora
One species, Pneumora inanis, endemic to southern Africa. |
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Pneumoracris
One species, Pneumoracris browni, endemic to southern Africa. |
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Prostalia
One species, Prostalia granulata, endemic to southern Africa. |
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References
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