Cooloola (insect)

Cooloola
Cooloola propator – Cooloola monster
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Family: Cooloolidae
Rentz, 1980
Subfamily: Cooloolinae
Rentz, 1980
Genus: Cooloola
Rentz, 1980
Species

4, see text

Cooloola is a genus of ensiferan orthopterans known as Cooloola monsters.[1] It is the only genus in the subfamily Cooloolinae and family Cooloolidae of the superfamily Stenopelmatoidea.

Four species are known from this family, all endemic to Queensland, Australia. The name originated from the discovery of the best-known member of the family, the Cooloola monster (Cooloola propator), in the Cooloola National Park.

Little is known about their life histories as they lead an almost entirely subterranean existence, but they are believed to prey on other soil-dwelling invertebrates. Cooloola monsters are unusual in comparison with other members of the primitive superfamily Stenopelmatoidea in that the cooloolids' antennae are considerably shorter than their body lengths.

Classification

While often treated as a family, molecular evidence suggests that cooloolids are in fact aberrant members of the family Anostostomatidae, and the genus Cooloola might not be monophyletic.[2]

Species include:[3]

References

  1. ^ Cigliano, M. M.; Braun, H.; Eades, D. C.; Otte, D. "family Cooloolidae Rentz, 1980". orthoptera.speciesfile.org. Orthoptera Species File. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  2. ^ Vandergast, A.G., Weissman, D.B., Wood, D.A., Rentz, D.C., Bazelet, C.S., and Ueshima, N. (2017) Tackling an intractable problem: Can greater taxon sampling help resolve relationships within the Stenopelmatoidea (Orthoptera: Ensifera)? Zootaxa 4291, no. 1, p. 1. DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.4291.1.1
  3. ^ Cigliano, M. M.; Braun, H.; Eades, D. C.; Otte, D. "genus Cooloola Rentz, 1980". orthoptera.speciesfile.org. Orthoptera Species File. Retrieved 30 December 2018.