Gryllacrididae are a family of non-jumping insects in the suborder
Ensifera occurring worldwide, known commonly as "
leaf-rolling crickets" or "
raspy crickets" and sometimes called "
Wolf crickets". The family historically has been broadly defined to include what are presently several other families, such as
Stenopelmatidae ("Jerusalem crickets") and
Rhaphidophoridae ("camel crickets"), now considered separate. As presently defined, the family contains two subfamilies, with the vast majority (over 90 genera containing over 600 species) in the subfamily
Gryllacridinae. The remaining subfamily,
Lezininae, contains only a single genus with 12 described species. They are commonly wingless and
nocturnal. In the daytime, most species rest in shelters made from folded leaves sewn with
silk. Some species use silk to burrow in sand, earth or wood. Raspy crickets evolved the ability to produce silk independently from other insects, but their silk has many convergent features to silkworm silk, being made of long, repetitive proteins with an extended beta-sheet structure.
