Acridoidea

Acridoidea is the largest superfamily of grasshoppers in the order Orthoptera with species found on every continent except Antarctica.

Classification
Orthoptera Species File includes the following families:
 * Acrididae MacLeay, 1821
 * Dericorythidae Jacobson & Bianchi, 1905
 * Lathiceridae Dirsh, 1954
 * Lentulidae Dirsh, 1956
 * Lithidiidae Dirsh, 1961
 * Ommexechidae Bolívar, 1884
 * Pamphagidae Burmeister, 1840
 * Pamphagodidae Bolívar, 1884
 * Pyrgacrididae Kevan, 1974
 * Romaleidae Pictet & Saussure, 1887
 * Tristiridae Rehn, 1906

Chromosomes
Among the families Acrididae, Ommexechidae and Romaleidae there is reported to be chromosomal stability with a high frequency of species harbouring diploid number (2n) of 23♂/24♀ chromosomes. In species of Acrididae and Romaleidae it is common to have acrocentric chromosomes with a fundamental number (FN), i.e. number of chromosome arms, of 23♂/24♀. However, chromosomal rearrangements are frequently found as deviations from the standard acrocentric karyotype. In the subfamily Ommexechinae most species show a unique karyotype (2n = 23♂/24♀, FN = 25♂/26♀) due to the occurrence of a large autosomal pair (L1) with submetacentric morphology. There is some support for 'Mesa's hypothesis' of an ancestral pericentric inversion in the ancestor of Ommexechinae to explain this karyotype variation.