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.
Anaxyelidae is a family of incense cedar wood wasps in the order Hymenoptera. It contains only one living genus, Syntexis, which has only a single species, native to Western North America. Fossils of the family extend back to the Middle Jurassic, belonging to over a dozen extinct genera, with a particularly high diversity during the Early Cretaceous. Syntexis lay eggs in the sapwood of conifers, preferring recently burnt wood.
Osmylidae are a small family of winged insects of the net-winged insect order Neuroptera. The osmylids, also called lance lacewings, stream lacewings or giant lacewings, are found all over the world except North and Central America. There are around 225 extant species.
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.
Nymphidae, sometimes called split-footed lacewings, are a family of winged insects of the order Neuroptera. There are 35 extant species native to Australia and New Guinea.
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.
Locustopsidae is an extinct family of grasshoppers in the order Orthoptera. There are about 17 genera and more than 60 described species in Locustopsidae.
Mesopsychidae is an extinct family of scorpionflies known from the Late Permian to Mid Cretaceous. It is part of Mesopsychoidea, a group of scorpionflies with siphonate proboscis. They are suggested to have been nectarivores, feeding off the liquid pollination drops and acting as pollinators for now extinct insect pollinated gymnosperms such as Bennettitales.
Blattulidae is an extinct family of cockroaches known from the Triassic to the Late Cretaceous. Their distinguishing characteristics include "forewing has long Sc, regular venation with distinct intercalaries and hindwing has simple CuP, branched A1." Due to the poor ability of forewing venation to correctly classify modern 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.
Mesoblattinidae is an extinct, problematic 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. 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. 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.
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.
Archisargidae is an extinct family of brachyceran flies known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. It is part of the extinct superfamily Archisargoidea. Most members of the family are known from the Callovian-Oxfordian Daohugou biota of Inner Mongolia, China, and the equivalently aged Karabastau Formation of Kazakhstan. The family has been found to be paraphyletic with respect to Eremochaetidae in a cladistic analysis.
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. They are thought to have been herbivorous.
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.
Susumanioidea is an extinct superfamily of Phasmatodea, known from the Middle Jurassic to Eocene. They lie outside the modern crown group of Phasmatodea. Members of the group typically possess large, fully developed wings.
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.
