Insect Order Orthoptera that includes grasshoppers, crickets anf locusts first appeared during the middle of the Carboniferous period, well over 300 million years ago. The name Orthoptera, derived from the Greek "ortho" meaning straight and "ptera" meaning wing, refers to the parallel-sided structure of the front wings (tegmina). In many species of Orthoptera, the males use sound signals (chirping or whirring) in order to attract a mate. The sound is produced by stridulation -- rubbing the upper surface of one wing against the lower surface of another wing, or the inner surface of the hind leg against the outer surface of the front wing. Most living members of this order are terrestrial herbivores with modified hind legs that are adapted for jumping. There are some 20,000 extant species.

A Gallery of Fossil Orthopterans   Habrohagla curtivenata Family Haglidae (Cicada) Incredible 121 mm long Lower Cretaceous Liaoning Province, China 10 mm fossil cricket Colombian amber Grasshopper Lower Cretaceous Liaoning Province, China Orthopteran Lower Cretaceous Santana Formation, Brazil Cricket Lower Cretaceous Liaoning Province, China Cricket in Colombian Amber In Association with numerous Dipterans Grasshopper Oligocene (part and counterpart) in shale from Idaho. Cricket and Cranefly Order Orthoptera Eocene Green River Formation, Utah