Pterygota

• Overview
• Taxonomy
• Orders
• Sources

Overview

Taxonomy

Orders

Anoplura

Sucking lice (Anoplura) have around 500 species and represent the smaller of the two traditional suborders of lice. The Anoplura are all blood-feeding ectoparasites of mammals. They can cause localised skin irritations and are vectors of several blood-borne diseases. [more]

Blattaria

Cockroaches (or simply "roaches") are insects of the order Blattaria. This name derives from the Latin word for "cockroach", blatta. [more]

Blattodea

Cockroaches (or simply "roaches") are insects of the order Blattaria. This name derives from the Latin word for "cockroach", blatta. [more]

Coleoptera

Beetles are a group of insects which have the largest number of species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera, which means "sheathed wing". The Coleoptera contains more described species than in any other order in the animal kingdom, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms. Forty percent of all described insect species are beetles (about 350,000 species), and new species are frequently discovered. Estimates put the total number of species, described and undescribed, at between 5 and 8 million. [more]

Decapoda

The decapods or Decapoda (literally means "ten footed") are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crayfish, crabs, lobsters, prawns and shrimp. Most decapods are scavengers. [more]

Dermaptera

Earwig is the common name given to the insect order Dermaptera characterized by membranous wings folded underneath short leathery forewings (hence the literal name of the order—"skin wings"). The abdomen extends well beyond the wings, and frequently, though not always, ends in a pair of forceps-like structures termed cerci. With about 1,800 recorded species in 10 families, the order is relatively small among Insecta. Earwigs are, however, quite common globally. There is no evidence that they transmit disease or otherwise harm humans or other animals, despite their nickname pincher bug. [more]

Dicliptera

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Diptera

True flies are insects of the Order Diptera (Greek: di = two, and pteron = wing), possessing a single pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax. The common housefly is a true fly and is one of the most widely distributed of animals. [more]

Embiodea

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Ephemeroptera

Mayflies are insects which belong to the Order Ephemeroptera (from the Greek ephemeros = "short-lived", pteron = "wing", referring to the short life span of adults). They have been placed into an ancient group of insects termed the Paleoptera, which also contains the dragonflies and damselflies. They are aquatic insects whose immature stage (called naiad or, colloquially, nymph) usually lasts one year in fresh water. The adults are short-lived, from a few hours to a few days depending on the species. About 2,500 species are known worldwide, including about 630 species in North America. Common names for mayflies include "dayfly", "shadfly", "Green Bay Flies", "Canadian soldier", and "fishfly" . [more]

Geroptera

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Glosselytrodea

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Grylloblattodea

Grylloblattodea is a small suborder of extremophile and wingless insects that live in the cold on top of mountains, consisting of a single family, Grylloblattidae. They are commonly called grylloblattids, but are also sometimes called ice crawlers or icebugs. Their appearance evidently puzzled the scientist who discovered them; the first species named was Grylloblatta campodeiformis, which means "It looks like a cricket, a cockroach, and a Campodea" (a kind of two-pronged bristletail). Most are nocturnal and appear to feed on detritus. They have long antennae (23-45 segments) and long cerci (5-8 segments), but no wings. Their closest living relatives are the recently-discovered Mantophasmatodea. [more]

Gymnophiona

The caecilians (pronounced /?se?'s?lj?n/) are an order (Gymnophiona or Apoda) of amphibians that superficially resemble earthworms or snakes. They mostly live hidden in the ground, which makes them the least explored order of amphibians, and widely unknown. [more]

Hemiptera

Hemiptera is an order of insects, comprising around 80,000 species of cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, and others, collectively known as the true bugs. They range in size from 1 mm to around 15 cm, and share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts . [more]

Hymenoptera

Hymenoptera is one of the larger orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. The name refers to the membranous wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek ?µ?? (hum?n): membrane and pte??? (pteron): wing. The hindwings are connected to the forewings by a series of hooks called hamuli. [more]

Isoptera

Termites, sometimes incorrectly called "white ants", are a group of social insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera (but see also taxonomy below). As truly social animals, they are termed eusocial along with the ants and some bees and wasps. Termites mostly feed on dead plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung, and about 10% of the estimated 4,000 species (about 2,600 taxonomically known) are economically significant as pests that can cause serious structural damage to buildings, crops or plantation forests. Termites are major detrivores, particularly in the subtropical and tropical regions, and their recycling of wood and other plant matter is of considerable ecological importance. [more]

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterflies. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies. Members of the order are referred to as lepidopterans. A person who collects or studies this order is referred to as a lepidopterist. This order has more than 180,000 species in 128 families and 47 superfamilies. The name is derived from Ancient Greek ?ep?d?? (scale) and pte??? (wing). Estimates of species suggest that the order may have more species and may be among the largest two or three orders, along with the hymenoptera and the coleoptera. [more]

Mallophaga

Chewing lice (Mallophaga) have nearly 3000 species and represent the larger of the two traditional suborders of lice (cf. sucking lice). Recent classifications suggest that this group is paraphyletic and divide the Mallophaga into three separate suborders: [more]

Mantodea

The insect order Mantodea or mantises consists of approximately 2,300 species worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats, of which a majority are in the family Mantidae. For most of the past century, only this single family was recognized within the order, and the term "mantid" was therefore historically used for any member of the order; technically, however, the term only refers to this one family, meaning the species in the other eight recently-established families are not mantids, by definition (i.e., they are empusids, or hymenopodids, etc.), and the term "mantises" (or the more colloquial "praying mantises") should be used when referring to the entire order. Often mistakenly spelled preying mantis (an eggcorn, since they are notoriously predatory), they are in fact named for the typical "prayer-like" stance. The word mantis derives from the Greek word mantis for prophet or fortune teller. In Europe, the name "praying mantis" refers to only a single species, Mantis religiosa. The closest relatives of mantises are the orders Isoptera (termites) and Blattodea (cockroaches), and these three groups together are sometimes ranked as an order rather than a superorder. [more]

Mantophasmatodea

Mantophasmatodea is a suborder of African carnivorous insects discovered in 2002, originally considered to be a new order, but since relegated to subordinal status, and comprising the single family Mantophasmatidae. The most common vernacular name for this order is gladiators, although they are also called rock crawlers, heelwalkers, mantophasmids, and, coloquially, mantos. Their modern centre of endemism is western South Africa and Namibia (Brandberg Massif^[2]), although a relict population and Eocene fossil suggest a wider ancient distribution. [more]

Mecoptera

Mecoptera (from the Greek: meco- = "long", ptera- = "wings") are an order of insects with about 550 species in nine families worldwide. Mecoptera are sometimes called scorpionflies after their largest non-flea family, Panorpidae, in which the males have enlarged genitals that look similar to the stinger of a scorpion. The Bittacidae, or hangingflies, are a prominent family of elongate insects known for their elaborate mating rituals, in which females choose mates based on the quality of gift prey offered by various males. [more]

Megaloptera

Megaloptera is an order of insects. It contains the alderflies, dobsonflies and fishflies, and there are about 300 known species. The Megaloptera were formerly considered part of a group then called Neuroptera, together with lacewings and snakeflies, but these are now generally considered to be separate orders, with Neuroptera referring to the lacewings and relatives (which were formerly called Planipennia). The former Neuroptera - particularly the lacewing group - are nonetheless very closely related to each other, and the new name for this group is Neuropterida. This is either placed at superorder rank, with the Endopterygota - of which they are part - becoming an unranked clade above it, or the Endopterygota are maintained as a superorder, with an unranked Neuropterida being a part of them. Within the endopterygotes, the closest living relatives of the neuropteridan clade are the beetles. [more]

Megasecoptera

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Miomoptera

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Neuroptera

The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order contains some 4,000 species. Traditionally, the group that was once known as Planipennia, with the Neuroptera at that time also including alderflies, fishflies, dobsonflies and snakeflies, but these are now generally considered to be separate orders (the Megaloptera and Raphidioptera). Sometimes the name Neuropterida is used to refer to these three orders as a group. This is either placed at superorder rank, with the Endopterygota becoming an unranked clade above it, or the Endopterygota are maintained as a superorder, with an unranked Neuropterida being a part of them. Within the endopterygotes, the closest living relatives of the neuropteridan clade are the beetles. The common name lacewings is often used for the most widely known net-winges insects - the green lacewings (Chrysopidae) - but actually most members of the Neuroptera are referred to as some sort of "lacewing". [more]

Odonata

Odonata is an order of insects, encompassing dragonflies (Anisoptera) and damselflies (Zygoptera). The word dragonfly is also sometimes used to refer to all Odonata. The term odonate has been coined to provide an English name for the group as a whole, but is not in common usage; most Odonata enthusiasts avoid ambiguity by using the term true dragonfly when referring to just the Anisoptera. [more]

Orthoptera

The Orthoptera (from the Greek ?????, orthos = "straight" and pte???, pteron = "wing") are an order of insects with paurometabolous or incomplete metamorphosis, including the grasshoppers, crickets and locusts. Many insects in this order produce sound (known as a "stridulation") by rubbing their wings against each other or their legs, the wings or legs containing rows of corrugated bumps. The tympanum or ear is located in the front tibia in crickets, mole crickets, and katydids. These organisms use vibrations to locate other individuals. [more]

Palaeodictyoptera

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Paoliida

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Phasmatodea

The Phasmatodea (sometimes called Phasmida) are an order of insects, whose members are variously known as stick insects (in Europe), walking sticks or stick-bugs (in the United States of America), phasmids, ghost insects and leaf insects (generally the family Phylliidae). The ordinal name is derived from the Greek "phasma" meaning an apparition or phantom, and refers to the resemblance of many species to sticks or leaves. A few species (e.g. Anisomorpha) are capable of secreting a substance from glands on the metathorax that can cause an intense burning irritation of the eyes (and in some cases temporary blindness) and mouth of potential predators on contact. [more]

Plecoptera

Plecoptera are an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. There are some 1,700 recorded species worldwide. [more]

Pleuronematida

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Protodonata

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Protoperlaria

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Protorthoptera

The Protorthoptera are an extinct order of Palaeozoic insects, and represent a wastebasket taxon and paraphyletic assemblage of basal neoptera. They appear during the Middle Carboniferous (late Serpukhovian or early Bashkirian), making them among the earliest known winged insects in the fossil record. Pronotal lobes may be expanded to form a shield. The group includes the ancestors of all other polyneopterous insects. [more]

Psocoptera

Psocoptera are an order of insects that are commonly known as booklice, barklice or barkflies[1]. They first appeared in the Permian era, 295–248 million years ago. They are often regarded as the most primitive of the hemipteroids . Their name originates from the Greek word psokos meaning gnawed or rubbed and ptera meaning wings . There are more than 5,500 species in 41 families in three suborders. Many of these species have only been described in recent years . [more]

Raphidioptera

Snakeflies are a group of insects in the order Raphidioptera, consisting of about 150 species. Together with the Megaloptera they were formerly placed within the Neuroptera, but now these two are generally regarded as separate orders. [more]

Siphonaptera

Flea is the common name for any of the small wingless insects of the order Siphonaptera (some authorities use the name Aphaniptera because it is older, but names above family rank need not follow the ICZN rules of priority, so most taxonomists use the more familiar name). Fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of mammals and birds. Genetic and morphological evidence indicates that they are descendants of the Scorpionfly family Boreidae, which are also flightless; accordingly it is possible that they will eventually be reclassified as a suborder within the Mecoptera. In the past, however, it was most commonly supposed that fleas had evolved from the flies (Diptera), based on similarities of the larvae. In any case, all these groups seem to represent a clade of closely related insect lineages, for which the names Mecopteroidea and Antliophora have been proposed. [more]

Strepsiptera

The Strepsiptera (known in older literature as twisted-winged parasites) are an order of insects with nine families making up about 600 species. The early stage larvae and the short-lived adult males are free-living but most of their life is spent as endoparasites in other insects such as bees, wasps, leafhoppers, silverfish, and cockroaches. [more]

Syntonopterodea

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Thysanoptera

Thrips (Order Thysanoptera) are tiny, slender insects with fringed wings (thus the scientific name, from the Greek thysanos (fringe) + pteron (wing)). Other common names for thrips include thunderflies, thunderbugs, storm flies, and corn lice. Thrips species feed on a large variety of sources both plant and animal by puncturing them and sucking up the contents. A large number of thrips species are considered pests, because they feed on plants with commercial value. Some species of thrips feed on other insects or mites and are considered beneficial, while some feed on fungal spores or pollen. So far around 5,000 species have been described. Thrips are generally tiny (1 mm long or less) and are not good flyers, although they can be carried long distances by the wind. In the right conditions, many species can explode in population and swarm everywhere, making them an irritation to humans. [more]

Trichoptera

Caddisflies, sedge-flies or rail flies (Order Trichoptera, from Greek trich, "hair", and ptera, "wings") are small moth-like insects having two pairs of hairy membranous wings. They are closely related to Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) which have scales on their wings, and the two orders together form the superorder Amphiesmenoptera. Caddisflies have aquatic larvae and are found in a wide variety of habitats such as streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, spring seeps, and temporary waters (vernal pools). The larvae of many species make protective cases of silk decorated with gravel, sand, twigs or other debris. [more]

Veneroida

The Veneroida or veneroids are an order of bivalve molluscs. They include some familiar forms such as clams, cockles and zebra mussels. They are generally thick-valved, equal valved, and isomyarian (that is, their adductor muscles are of equal size). The name means "perfected teeth", referring to the three teeth characteristic of the subclass Heterodonta to which this order belongs. Many species are active rather than sessile. However they tend to be filter feeders, feeding through paired Siphons, with a characteristic folded gill structure adapted to that way of life. [more]

Zoraptera

The insect order Zoraptera contains one family (Zorotypidae) which in turn contains one extant genus, Zorotypus, though an extinct animal of the Cretaceous era is classified as Xenozorotypus burmiticus within the same family. [more]

At least 33 species and subspecies belong to the Order Zoraptera.

More info about the Order Zoraptera may be found here.

Sources

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