There are various disparate groups of wingless insects.

Apterygota The name Apterygota is sometimes applied to a subclass of small, agile insects, distinguished from other insects by their lack of wings in the present and in their evolutionary history; notable examples are the silverfish, the firebrat, and the ...

are a subclass of small, agile insects, distinguished from other insects by their lack of wings in the present and in their evolutionary history. They include

Thysanura Thysanura is the now deprecated name of what was, for over a century, recognised as an order in the class Insecta. The two constituent groups within the former order, the Archaeognatha (jumping bristletails) and the Zygentoma (silverfish and fir ...

(

silverfish The silverfish (''Lepisma saccharinum'') is a species of small, primitive, wingless insect in the order Zygentoma (formerly Thysanura). Its common name derives from the insect's silvery light grey colour, combined with the fish-like appearance ...

and

firebrat The firebrat (''Thermobia domestica'') is a small hexapod (typically 1–1.5 cm), in the order Zygentoma. Habitat Firebrats prefer higher temperatures and require some humidity, and can be found in bakeries and near boilers or furn ...

s). Some

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

lacking wings are members of insect

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

that generally do have wings. Some do not grow wings at all, having "lost" the possibility in the remote past. Some have reduced wings that are not useful for flying. Some develop wings but shed them after they are no longer useful. Other groups of insects may have castes with wings and castes without, such as

ants Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Creta ...

. Ants have

alate Alate (Latin ''ālātus'', from ''āla'' (“wing”)) is an adjective and noun used in entomology and botany to refer to something that has wings or winglike structures. In entomology In entomology, "alate" usually refers to the winged form o ...

queens and males during the mating season and wingless workers, which allows for smaller workers and more populous colonies than comparable winged wasp species.

Wingless flies

True

flies Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

are

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s of the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

Diptera. The name is derived from the Greek ''di-'' = two, and ''ptera'' = wings. Most insects of this order have two wings (not counting the

halteres ''Halteres'' (; singular ''halter'' or ''haltere'') (from grc, ἁλτῆρες, weights held in the hands to give an impetus in leaping) are a pair of small club-shaped organs on the body of two orders of flying insects that provide infor ...

, club-like limbs which are homologous to the second pair of wings found on insects of other orders). Wingless flies are found on some islands and other isolated places. Some are parasites, resembling

tick Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by ...

Wingless flies

*''

Chionea scita ''Chionea scita'' is a species of crane fly in the family Limoniidae. ''C. scita'' is known as a type of snow crane fly because it is commonly seen walking on piles of snow during the winter months. These flies are also often observed in caves a ...

,'' a type of snow crane fly *Genus '' Badisis'' *Family

Braulidae Braulidae, or bee lice, is a family of true flies (''Diptera'') with seven species in two genera, '' Braula'' and '' Megabraula''. They are found in honey bee colonies due to their phoretic, inquiline, and kleptoparasitic relationships with the ...

, or bee lice *''

Melophagus ovinus ''Melophagus ovinus'', or the sheep ked, is a brown, hairy fly that resembles a tick. This wingless fly is about 4 to 6 mm long and has a small head; it is a fly from the family Hippoboscidae. They are blood-feeding parasites of sheep. ...

'', or the sheep ked *'' Mystacinobia zelandica'', the New Zealand batfly *Wingless

midge A midge is any small fly, including species in several families of non- mosquito Nematoceran Diptera. Midges are found (seasonally or otherwise) on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid zones. Some m ...

s **Genus ''

Belgica Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany. In 50 BC, af ...

'', including ''

Belgica antarctica ''Belgica antarctica'', the Antarctic midge, is a species of flightless midge, endemic to the continent of Antarctica. At long, it is the largest purely terrestrial animal native to the continent. It also has the smallest known insect genome as ...

'', the Antarctic midge **Genus ''

Pontomyia ''Pontomyia'' is a genus of flightless marine midges belonging to the subfamily Chironominae in the Chironomidae The Chironomidae (informally known as chironomids, nonbiting midges, or lake flies) comprise a family of nematoceran flies with ...

'', marine flightless midges

Fly species that shed wings

*''

Lipoptena mazamae ''Lipoptena mazamae'', the Neotropical deer ked, is a fly from the family Hippoboscidae. They are blood-feeding parasites of the white-tailed deer - ''Odocoileus virginianus'' in the southeastern United States and Central America, the red brock ...

'', the Neotropical deer ked

Wingless mutant flies

Flightless fruit fly Flightless fruit flies (Order Diptera) encompass a variety of different species of fly, such as '' Drosophila melanogaster'', ''Bactrocera cucurbitae'', '' Bactrocera dorsalis'', and '' Drosophila hydei'', with genetic mutations that cause them to ...

Wingless moths

There are many species of wingless moths. Often only the females are wingless (

larviform female Larviform female is a biological phenomenon occurring in some insect species, where the females in the adult stage of metamorphosis resemble the larvae to various degrees, while the male appears more morphologically adult (as imagoes). The resemblan ...

s).

Moth species having wingless females

*'' Luffia lapidella'' *''

Operophtera fagata ''Operophtera fagata'', the northern winter moth, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is widespread through much of Europe. Geographic distribution This species’ range extends through central and northern Europe to southeast Russia. It i ...

'', the northern winter moth *''

Orgyia recens ''Telochurus recens'', the scarce vapourer, is a moth of the subfamily Lymantriinae found in Europe. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1819. The wingspan is for the males; the females are wingless. The moth flies from June to ...

'', the scarce vapourer *''

Pachythelia villosella ''Pachythelia villosella'' is a moth of the Psychidae family. It is found in Europe. The wingspan is 13–15 mm for males. Head, thorax, and abdomen pale brownish-ochreous. Forewings and hindwings thinly haired, dark brown or grey brown; ve ...

'' *''

Operophtera brumata :''In North America, "winter moth" usually denotes the invasive species ''Operophtera brumata'', but may also mean refer to a native species, ''Erannis tiliaria'' (linden looper) or ''Operophtera bruceata'' (bruce spanworm).'' The winter moth ('' ...

'', the winter moth :Many more

Flightless moths

*'' Pringleophaga marioni'', the Subantarctic caterpillar

Wingless wasps

*Family

Rhopalosomatidae Rhopalosomatidae is a family of Hymenoptera containing about 68 extant species in four genera that are found worldwide. Three fossil genera are known. The adults resemble ants and may be confused with them. They are yellowish with red or brown ...

, having winged, wingless, and reduced-wing species

Wasp species having wingless females

*Family

Mutillidae The Mutillidae are a family of more than 7,000 species of wasps whose wingless females resemble large, hairy ants. Their common name velvet ant refers to their dense pile of hair, which most often is bright scarlet or orange, but may also be ...

, with more than 3,000 species *''

Diamma bicolor The blue ant (''Diamma bicolor''), also known as the blue-ant or bluebottle, despite its name and appearance, is not an ant, but rather a species of large, solitary, parasitic wasp sometimes known as a flower wasp. It is native to south and s ...

'', the blue ant (a wasp)

Others

* Family

Eumastacidae Eumastacidae are a family of grasshoppers sometimes known as monkey- or matchstick grasshoppers. They usually have thin legs that are held folded at right angles to the body, sometimes close to the horizontal plane. Many species are wingless and ...

, grasshoppers having many wingless species * Family

Myrmecophilidae The Myrmecophilidae or ant-loving crickets are rarely encountered relatives of mole crickets, and are obligate inquilines within ant nests. They are very small, wingless, and flattened, so resemble small cockroach nymphs. The few genera contain f ...

, ant crickets * ''

Thinopinus pictus The pictured rove beetle (''Thinopinus pictus'') is a wingless rove beetle which lives on the sandy beaches of the West Coast of the United States from southern Alaska to Baja California. It is nocturnal, emerging at night from temporary sand ...

'', the pictured rove beetle * Order

Siphonaptera Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...

, fleas, believed to have had winged ancestors * Order

Phthiraptera Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a result ...

, lice, a wingless order under the winged superorder

Exopterygota The Exopterygota (Ancient Greek ''ἔξω'' (éxō, “outside”) + ''πτερόν'' (pterón, “wing”) + New Latin ''-ota'' (“having”)), also known as Hemipterodea, are a superorder of insects of the subclass Pterygota in the infracl ...

* Family

Trichogrammatidae The Trichogrammatidae are a family of tiny wasps in the Chalcidoidea Chalcid wasps (, , for their metallic colour) are insects within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, part of the order Hymenoptera. The superfamily contains some 22,500 known ...

, parasitic wasps, some species of which have wingless males that mate and die inside the host egg * Order

Notoptera The wingless insect order Notoptera, a group first proposed in 1915, had been largely unrecognized since its original conception, until resurrected in 2004. As now defined, the order comprises five families, three of them known only from fossils ...

References

{{reflist Insects by adaptation Insect morphology