Mesoblattinidae Temporal range: | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Blattodea |
Family: | † Mesoblattinidae Handlirsch 1906 |
Genera | |
See text |
Mesoblattinidae is an extinct, problematic [1] family of cockroaches known from the Mesozoic. It was formerly considered a wastebasket taxon for Mesozoic cockroaches, but the family has subsequently been better defined, with many taxa transferred to Caloblattinidae. It is considered to have close affinities with Blattidae and Ectobiidae, as well as possibly Blaberidae. [2] The family first appeared by the Early Jurassic. They are considered to represent amongst the oldest groups of modern cockroaches, and like them are thought to have laid oothecae. [3] Due to the poor ability of forewing venation to correctly classify cockroaches to extensive homoplasy, the value of this family as a taxonomic unit has been strongly questioned, with some authors considering the family a nomen dubium . [4]
Based on [5]
The Cupedidae are a small family of beetles, notable for the square pattern of "windows" on their elytra, which give the family their common name of reticulated beetles.
Bittacidae is a family of scorpionflies commonly called hangingflies or hanging scorpionflies.
The Ptychopteridae, phantom crane flies, are a small family of nematocerous Diptera. Superficially similar in appearance to other "tipuloid" families, they lack the ocelli of the Trichoceridae, the five-branched radial vein of the Tanyderidae, and the two anal veins that reach the wing margins of the Tipulidae. They are usually allied with the Tanyderidae based on similarities of the mesonotal suture, this group being called the Ptychopteromorpha.
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The Berothidae are a family of winged insects of the order Neuroptera. They are known commonly as the beaded lacewings. The family was first named by Anton Handlirsch in 1906. The family consists of 24 genera and 110 living species distributed discontinuously worldwide, mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. Numerous extinct species have also been described. Their ecology is poorly known, but in the species where larval stages have been documented, the larvae are predators of termites.
Coptoclavidae is an extinct family of aquatic beetles in the suborder Adephaga. The Coptoclavidae lived from the Late Triassic to the Early Cretaceous. Coptoclavidae is a member of the adephagan clade Dytiscoidea, which contains other aquatic beetles. Suggested reasons for their extinction to include the rise of teleost fish, or competition with Gyrinidae and Dytiscidae, which possess defensive secretions and sucking channels in the mandibles of larvae, which coptoclavids likely lacked. It has been suggested that the genus Timarchopsis and the subfamily Timarchopsinae are only distantly related to other coptoclavids based on cladistic analysis, with Timarchopsis being more closely related to geadephagans like carabids and trachypachids instead. Another study also suggested similarly for Coptoclavisca and possibly other coptoclaviscines.
Mesoraphidiidae is an extinct family of snakeflies in the suborder Raphidiomorpha. The family lived from the Late Jurassic through the Late Cretaceous and is known from twenty-five genera. Mesoraphidiids have been found as both compression fossils and as inclusions in amber. The family was first proposed in 1925 by the Russian paleoentomologist Andrey Vasilyevich Martynov based on Upper Jurassic fossils recovered in Kazakhstan. The family was expanded in 2002 by the synonymizing of several other proposed snakefly families. The family was divided into three subfamilies and one tribe in a 2011 paper, further clarifying the relationships of the included genera.
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Locustopsidae is an extinct family of grasshoppers in the order Orthoptera. There are about 17 genera and more than 60 described species in Locustopsidae.
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Liberiblattinidae is an extinct family of cockroaches known from the Jurassic to Cretaceous. Some taxa, like Cryptoblatta and Hydrokhoohydra, are suggested to be semiaquatic. Spongistoma is suggested to be a nectarivore due to its unique sucking/sponging "proboscis" mouthparts. Some authors have suggested that the family is ancestral to Mantodea.
Archijassidae is an extinct family of leafhoppers known from the Late Triassic to the early Late Cretaceous. It is the oldest member of Membracoidea, and is considered ancestral to modern leafhoppers and treehoppers.
Procercopidae is an extinct family of froghoppers. They are known from the Early Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous of Eurasia. They are one of two main families of Mesozoic froghoppers alongside Sinoalidae. Procercopidae are considered to be the ancestral group from which modern froghoppers are derived.
Elcanidae are an extinct family of Mesozoic and early Cenozoic orthopterans. Members of the family are distinguished by the presence of spurs on the distal part of the metatibia, unique among orthopterans, these have been suggested to have been used for controlling gliding, swimming aids, or for jumping on water. The group combines characteristics from both major groups of orthopterans, with long antennae and nymphal morphology similar to Ensifera, but with wing venation and adult morphology more similar to Caelifera. Elcanidae is part of Elcanoidea, which is thought to have diverged from living orthopterans by the beginning of the Permian, around 300 million years ago. The family also includes Permelcanidae, known from the Early-Late Permian. The relationship of Elcanoidea to Ensifera and Caelifera is currently unresolved. Elcanids are known from the Late Triassic to Paleocene of Eurasia, North and South America. Some members of the group exhibited aposematic coloration.
Praeaulacidae is an extinct family of Mesozoic parasitic wasps in the suborder Evanioidea. It among the earliest known families of the group and is characterised by more complete wing venation in comparison to other members of the suborder. It has been found that Othniodellithidae is nested within Praeaulacidae via cladistic analysis.
Mesochrysopidae is an extinct family of lacewings known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. They are considered to be closely related to green lacewings of the family Chrysopidae. The family are also alternatively considered a paraphyletic grade leading up to crown Chrysopidae.
Necrotauliidae is an extinct family Mesozoic Amphiesmenoptera. While previously considered a paraphyletic grouping of "basal Trichoptera, basal Lepidoptera, and advanced stem-Amphiesmenoptera", they have recently been considered early diverging caddisflies. Other authors have considered them to be basal amphiesiopterans.
Orthophlebiidae is an extinct family of scorpionflies known from the Triassic to Cretaceous, belonging to the superfamily Panorpoidea. The family is poorly defined and is probably paraphyletic, representing many primitive members of Panorpoidea with most species only known from isolated wings, and has such been considered a wastebasket taxon.