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'Do you hear the grasshopper which is at your feet?'
'Old Man, how is it that you hear these things?'
'Young Man, how is it that you do not?'
- from the movie Kung Fu

"Orthoptera" means "Straight-wing".

Orthopterans have forewings thickened into a "tegmen". Their hind wings are folded fanwise when not used for flight. They have enlarged hind legs, chewing mouthparts,·and large compound eyes. Many (males) produce sounds for courtship through stridulation of body parts. The species that produce sound usually have auditoory organs called tympanum or their bodies or legs.
Orthopterans have incomplete metamorphosis (egg, nymph, adult). Most overwinter as eggs in untilled soil. There are usually 1 or 2 generations per year.

Grasshoppers - Suborder Caelifera - Short-horned orthoptera
Katydids and Crickets - Suborder Ensifera - Long-horned orthoptera