Mantophasmatidae is a family of carnivorous wingless insects within the monotypic order Mantophasmatodea, which was discovered in Africa in 2001. Recent evidence indicates a sister group relationship with Grylloblattidae, and Arillo and Engel have combined the two groups into a single order, Notoptera, with Grylloblattodea and Mantophasmatodea ranked as suborders.
Grylloblattidae, commonly known as the icebugs or ice crawlers, is a family of extremophile (psychrophile) and wingless insects that live in the cold on top of mountains and the edges of glaciers. It is the only member of Grylloblattodea, which is generally considered an order. Alternatively, Grylloblattodea, along with Mantophasmatodea, have been ranked as suborders of the order Notoptera. Grylloblattids are wingless insects mostly less than 3 cm long, with a head resembling that of a cockroach, with long antennae and having elongated cerci arising from the tip of their abdomen. They cannot tolerate warmth and many species have small distribution ranges.
Neoptera is a classification group that includes most orders of the winged insects, specifically those that can flex their wings over their abdomens. This is in contrast with the more basal orders of winged insects, which are unable to flex their wings in this way.
Dictyoptera is an insect superorder that includes two extant orders of polyneopterous insects: the order Blattodea and the order Mantodea (mantises). All modern Dictyoptera have short ovipositors and typically lay oothecae. The oldest fossils of Dictyoptera from the Late Carboniferous, referred to as "roachoids" have long ovipositors and did not lay oothecae. The oldest modern oothecae-laying dictyopterans date to the Late Triassic.
The Exopterygota, also known as Hemimetabola, are a superorder of insects of the subclass Pterygota in the infraclass Neoptera, in which the young resemble adults but have externally developing wings. They undergo a modest change between immature and adult, without going through a pupal stage. The nymphs develop gradually into adults through a process of moulting.
Ensifera is a suborder of insects that includes the various types of crickets and their allies including: true crickets, camel crickets, bush crickets or katydids, grigs, weta and Cooloola monsters. This and the suborder Caelifera make up the order Orthoptera. Ensifera is believed to be a more ancient group than Caelifera, with its origins in the Carboniferous period, the split having occurred at the end of the Permian period. Unlike the Caelifera, the Ensifera contain numerous members that are partially carnivorous, feeding on other insects, as well as plants.
Michael S. Engel, FLS, FRES is an American paleontologist and entomologist, notable for contributions to insect evolutionary biology and classification. In connection with his studies he has undertaken field expeditions in Central Asia, Asia Minor, the Levant, Arabia, eastern Africa, the high Arctic, and South and North America, and has published more than 925 papers in scientific journals. Some of Engel's research images were included in exhibitions on the aesthetic value of scientific imagery.
Notoptera, also known as Xenonomia, is a clade of insects belonging to Polyneoptera. It contains two living groups, Mantophasmatidae (gladiators) native to southern Africa, and Grylloblattidae native to cold montane environments in the Northern Hemisphere. Both groups are wingless.
Edmund Murton Walker was a Canadian entomologist. He described the genus Grylloblatta in 1914 which he then considered as a member of the Orthoptera and later placed it in a separate order Grylloblattodea but which are now included in the order Notoptera.
Orthopteroids are insects which historically would have been included in the order Orthoptera and now may be placed in the Polyneoptera. When Carl Linnaeus started applying binomial names to animals in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae in 1758, there were few animals included in the scheme, and consequently few groups. As more and more new species were discovered and differences recognised, the original groups proposed by Linnaeus were split up.
Titanoptera is an extinct order of neopteran insects from late Carboniferous to Triassic periods. Titanopterans were very large in comparison with modern insects, some having wingspans of up to 36 centimetres (14 in) or even 40 centimetres (16 in).
Zdenekia is a genus of extinct winged insects from the Upper Carboniferous period. It contains the species Z. grandis from the Czech Republic, Z. occidentalis from Belgium, and Z. silesiensis from Poland. Zdenekia is considered a member of the extinct order Paoliida, a group that historically had controversial affinities and composition but have been resolved as the sister group of Dictyoptera by recent studies.
Chresmodidae is an extinct family of Mesozoic insects within the superorder Polyneoptera.
Meganeuridae is an extinct family of griffinfly in the order Meganisoptera. There are more than 20 genera and 50 described species in Meganeuridae. This family contain the genus Meganeuropsis, which is one of the largest known insects.
Madygenophlebiidae is an extinct family of rock crawlers in the order Grylloblattodea. There are at least two genera and four described species in Madygenophlebiidae.
Palaeocixiidae is an extinct family of rock crawlers in the order Grylloblattodea. There is one genus, Palaeocixius, in Palaeocixiidae.
Geinitziidae is an extinct family of polyneopteran insects, known from the Permian to Cretaceous. They are currently considered to be members "Grylloblattida" a poorly defined group of extinct insects thought to be related to modern ice crawlers (Grylloblattidae). Other authors place them in the extinct order Reculida. Unlike modern ice crawlers, which are wingless, they had large wings, bearing a superficial resemblance to cockroaches, and are thought to have been day-active above ground predators.
Polyorthoptera is an outdated(?) magnorder of insects within the cohort polyneoptera that includes Dermaptera Grylloblattodea Mantophasmatodea Phasmatodea and Orthoptera. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for the Polyneoptera in general.
Paoliida is an extinct order of winged insects that lived in the late Paleozoic. Historically, both their systematic position and composition were controversial – for instance they had been considered as palaeodictyopterans, as basal Neoptera, or as stem-group of Pterygota – but recent studies have resolved them as the sister group of Dictyoptera.
