Ensifera is a suborder of the order
Orthoptera, including
insects in the families
Gryllidae (true crickets),
Prophalangopsidae (grigs),
Stenopelmatidae (Jerusalem crickets, king crickets, tree and giant wetas),
Gryllacrididae (leaf-rolling and raspy crickets),
Cooloolidae (cooloola monsters),
Rhaphidophoridae (cave and camel crickets),
Schizodactylidae (dune or splay-footed crickets) and
Tettigoniidae (bush crickets or katydids). The Tettigoniidae are sometimes known as the long-horned grasshoppers to distinguish them from the other suborder of Orthoptera, the
Caelifera or short-horned grasshoppers. Ensifera is believed to be a more ancient group than Caelifera, with its origins in the
Carboniferous period, the split having occurred at the end of the
Permian period.