The MyrmecophilidaeSaussure (1874) Mission scientifique au Méxique et dans l'Amérique centrale 6:422. or ant-loving crickets are rarely encountered relatives of mole crickets. They are very small, wingless, and flattened, resembling small cockroach nymphs. The few genera contain fewer than 100 species. Ant crickets are yellow, brown, or nearly black in color. They do not produce sound, and lack both wings and tympanal organs ("ears") on the front tibia.
Species of the subfamily Bothriophylacinae live in caves and the burrows of desert vertebrates rather than ant nests. The three extant ant cricket genera (subfamily Myrmecophilinae) are obligate kleptoparasites of ants. They obtain food by soliciting trophallaxis in their host ants or by scraping off waxes from the bodies of ants.
Tribes and genera The Orthoptera Species File lists two subfamilies:
Bothriophylacinae Auth.: Miram, 1934; distribution: northern Africa, western Asia tribe Bothriophylacini Miram, 1934 Bothriophylax Miram, 1934 Eremogryllodes Chopard, 1929 tribe Microbothriophylacini Gorochov, 2017 Microbothriophylax Gorochov, 1993
Myrmecophilinae Auth.: Saussure, 1874; distribution: global tribe Myrmecophilini Saussure, 1874 Myrmecophilus Berthold, 1827 Myrmecophilellus Uvarov, 1940 Incertae sedis †Araripemyrmecophilops Martins-Neto, 1991 Camponophilus Ingrisch, 1995
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