Polyneoptera

Group of insects From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The cohort Polyneoptera is one of the major groups of winged insects, comprising the Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, etc.) and all other neopteran insects believed to be more closely related to Orthoptera than to any other insect orders. They were formerly grouped together with the Palaeoptera and Paraneoptera as the Hemimetabola or Exopterygota on the grounds that they have no pupa, the wings gradually developing externally throughout the nymphal stages; their metamorphosis is deemed "incomplete".[2] Many members of the group have leathery forewings (tegmina) and hindwings with an enlarged anal field (vannus).

Quick facts Scientific classification, Orders ...
Polyneoptera
All polyneoptera extant orders:

row 1: Zoraptera, Dermaptera
row 2: Plecoptera, Orthoptera
row 3: Grylloblattodea, Mantophasmatodea
row 4: Phasmatodea, Embioptera
row 5: Mantodea, Blattodea

Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Clade: Dicondylia
Subclass: Pterygota
Infraclass: Neoptera
Cohort: Polyneoptera
Martynov, 1923[1]
Orders

See text

Synonyms
  • Gryllones
  • Orthoptères
  • Orthopteroidea
  • Orthopterodea
  • Paurometabola
  • Polyneopterata
  • Plecopterodea
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When Carl Linnaeus started applying binomial names to animals in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae in 1758,[3] he recognized relatively few animal species, and consequently relatively few groups that encompassed these species. As more and more new species were discovered, described and named, and importantly, their differences recognised and codified, the original groups proposed by Linnaeus were split up and/or expanded. The group of insects now recognized as being polyneopterans were, by Linnaeus, considered to belong within the genus Gryllus; the modern definition of this genus is restricted to species of closely related crickets, but in Linnaeus' original definition the genus contained crickets, grasshoppers, locusts, katydids / bush crickets (Tettigoniidae), stick insects, and praying mantises. These groups, along with the cockroaches, which Linnaeus considered as distinct,[clarification needed] are all polyneopteran insects.[4] The recently recognized order Mantophasmatodea is also included within Polyneoptera.[5]

Taxonomy

Extant

The following extant orders are included in Polyneoptera:[6]

Fossil

The following fossil groups are included in Polyneoptera:[6]

  • Archaeorthoptera (Orthoptera and stem-group relatives)
    • Caloneurodea
    • Cnemidolestodea (= Cnemidolestida)[8][9]
    • Geraroptera
    • Titanoptera – Carboniferous to Triassic
    • order Incertae sedis
      • family †Cacurgidae Handlirsch, 1911
      • family †Chresmodidae Haase, 1890[10]
      • family †Permostridulidae Béthoux, Nel, Lapeyrie & Gand, 2003
      • family †Protophasmatidae Brongniart, 1885
      • genus †Chenxiella Liu, Ren & Prokop, 2009
      • genus †Lobeatta Béthoux, 2005
      • genus †Longzhua Gu, Béthoux & Ren, 2011
      • genus †Nectoptilus Béthoux, 2005
      • genus †Sinopteron Prokop & Ren, 2007
  • Stem-group Phasmatodea
    • †family Xiphopteridae Sharov 1968
    • †family Prochresmodidae Vishnyakova 1980
    • †family Aeroplanidae Tillyard 1918
    • †family Cretophasmatidae Sharov 1968
    • †family Aerophasmatidae Martynov, 1928
  • Stem-group Dermaptera
  • †"Grylloblattida" (Stem-group Grylloblattodea?)
  • Eoblattida
  • Paoliida[11]
  • Protorthoptera
  • † family Magicivenidae[12]

Phylogeny

The following cladogram is based on the molecular phylogeny of Wipfler et al. 2019:[13]

Zoraptera (angel insects)

Dermaptera (earwigs)

Plecoptera (stoneflies)

Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, katydids)

Notoptera

Grylloblattodea (ice crawlers)

Mantophasmatodea (gladiators)

Eukinolabia

Phasmatodea (stick insects)

Embioptera (webspinners)

Dictyoptera

Mantodea (mantises)

Blattodea (cockroaches and termites)

Phylogeny after Wang et al. 2026[14]

Polyneoptera

Zoraptera (angel insects)

Dermoplectopterida

Dermaptera (earwigs)

Plecoptera (stoneflies)

Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, katydids)

Dictyoptera

Mantodea (mantises)

Blattodea (cockroaches and termites)

Mecynoptera
Notoptera/Xenonomia

Grylloblattodea (ice crawlers)

Mantophasmatodea (gladiators)

Eukinolabia

Phasmatodea (stick insects)

Embioptera (webspinners)

See also

Notes

  1. The orders Grylloblattodea and Mantophasmatodea are sometimes ranked as suborders of a single order, Notoptera.[7]

References

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