Grylloblattodea
- 1. Grylloblattodea Notoptera, Grylloblattaria, Grylloblattida Common names: rock crawlers, ice crawlers
- 3. Diagnostic characters • Elongate, wingless insects that as adults are 2–3.5 cm long. • Head is flattened and prognathous. • Mouth parts mandibulate and filiform antennae. • The compound eyes are reduced to a few ommatidia or are entirely absent. There are no ocelli.
- 4. • The thoracic segments are more or less identical, though the prothorax is slightly larger than the other two. • The six legs are similar in structure, each with a large coxa and a five-segmented tarsus. • The abdomen has 10 obvious segments and the 11th is represented by the epiproct and paraprocts.
- 5. • The ovipositor of females comprises three pairs of valves. • The cerci are long, eight-segmented structures.
- 6. Habitat • Cryptozoic insects, generally found in cold wet locations, often at relatively high altitudes, under stones, in rotting logs or leaf litter of cool temperate forests. • insects are active by both day and night. • In korea, they were found in caves. • They favor low temperatures (optimally around 4◦C) and go underground during warmer months.
- 7. • In winter they probably remain active, occupying the air space between the snow and ground surface. • Interestingly, they have very limited ability to withstand below-freezing temperatures.
- 8. Feeding habit • They are typically predaceous, eating a variety of other insects, dead or alive, but also ingest some plant material.
- 9. Reproduction • The black eggs are laid singly, and embryonic development takes from a few months to 3 years. • There are eight juvenile stages, and development may take up to 7 years.