Ensiferans are the "longhorned" orthopterans identified by their characteristic threadlike antennae which can reach to several times the body length. The group is largely nocturnal and many taxa are long-lived with adult life spans of over a year. Females inject eggs into plant material or soil through a long ovipositor (Chopard 1938, Beier 1972, Kevan 1989, Rentz 1996). Several taxa that have a reduced or absent ovipositor show maternal care of eggs or nymphs (Gwynne 1995). Ensiferans include most of the major groups of singing insects, taxa in which males stridulate to call mates. Stridulation involves rubbing together modified portions of the forewings in katydids (or bush-crickets (Tettigoniidae)) (Bailey and Rentz 1990), true crickets and their allies (Otte 1992, Desutter 1995) and Haglidae (Morris and Gwynne 1978) and a femur-abdominal mechanism in certain weta (Stenopelmatidae) (Field 1993). The more than 9000 described species in the suborder show a broad range of habits and habitats . They are found worldwide in diverse habitats. Some species retreat to crevices and burrows (Kevan 1989), an ancestral habit (Gwynne 1995) whereas others avoid natural enemies with a remarkable mimicry of leaves and other plant parts.