Caelifera, and all the superfamilies of grasshoppers except "Pamphagoidea" appear to be monophyletic.

In evolutionary terms, the split between the Caelifera and the Ensifera is no more recent than the Permo-Triassic boundary; the earliest insects that are certainly Caeliferans are in the extinct families Locustopseidae and Locustavidae from