The

cohort Cohort or cohortes may refer to: Cohort Sociological * Cohort (military unit), the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion * Cohort (educational group), a group of students working together through the same academic curriculum Scientific * Cohort ...

Polyneoptera is one of the major groups of winged

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s, comprising the

Orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – gras ...

(grasshoppers, crickets, etc.) and all other

neoptera Neoptera (Ancient Greek ''néos'' ("new") + ''pterón'' ("wing")) 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 basa ...

n insects believed to be more closely related to Orthoptera than to any other insect orders. They were formerly grouped together with the

Palaeoptera The name Palaeoptera (from Greek ( 'old') + ( 'wing')) has been traditionally applied to those ancestral groups of winged insects (most of them extinct) that lacked the ability to fold the wings back over the abdomen as characterizes the Neopt ...

and

Paraneoptera Paraneoptera or Acercaria is a Order (biology), superorder of insects which includes Psocodea, lice (Psocoptera, bark lice and Louse, true lice), thrips, and hemipterans, the true bugs. It also includes the extinct order Permopsocida, known from ...

as the

Hemimetabola Hemimetabolism or hemimetaboly, also called partial metamorphosis and paurometabolism,McGavin, George C. ''Essential Entomology: An Order-by-Order Introduction''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. pp. 20. is the mode of development of certain ...

Exopterygota The Exopterygota (Ancient Greek ''ἔξω'' (éxō, "outside") + ''πτερόν'' (pterón, "wing") + Neo-Latin ''-ota'' ("having")), also known as Hemimetabola, are a superorder of insects of the subclass Pterygota in the infraclass Neoptera, ...

on the grounds that they have no

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

, the wings gradually developing externally throughout the nymphal stages. Many members of the group have leathery forewings (

tegmina A tegmen (: tegmina) designates the modified leathery front wing on an insect particularly in the orders Dermaptera (earwigs), Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets and similar families), Mantodea (praying mantis), Phasmatodea (stick and leaf insec ...

) and hindwings with an enlarged anal field (vannus). When

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

started applying

binomial names In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

to animals in the

10th edition 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

of his ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the Orthographic ligature, ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Sweden, Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the syste ...

'' 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. Originally all polyneopteran insects were in the genus ''

Gryllus ''Gryllus'' is a genus of field cricket (Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Gryllinae). Members of the genus are typically 15–31 mm long and darkly coloured. The type species is ''Gryllus campestris'' L.: the European field cricket. History Until ...

'', this genus now contains a group of closely related

crickets Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets and more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms,Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) ''A General Textbook of Entomology'' 9th Ed. Methuen 886 ...

. In the scheme used by Linnaeus the genus contained

grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

locusts Locusts (derived from the Latin ''locusta'', locust or lobster) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a Swarm behaviour, swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circu ...

, katydids / bush crickets (

Tettigoniidae Insects in the family (biology), family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America) or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the subo ...

stick insects The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida or Phasmatoptera) are an order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick bugs, walkingsticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred to as Devil's dar ...

, and praying mantises. These groups, along with the

cockroaches Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests. Modern cockro ...

, which Linnaeus did treat differently, are all orthopteroid insects. The newly discovered order

Mantophasmatodea 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 (classified in the orde ...

is also an orthopteroid order.

Taxonomy

Extant

The following extant orders are included in Polyneoptera: * Superorder

Dictyoptera Dictyoptera (from Greek δίκτυον ''diktyon'' "net" and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing") is an insect superorder that includes two extant orders of polyneopterous insects: the order Blattodea (termites and cockroaches together) and the or ...

** Order

Blattodea Blattodea is an order (biology), order of insects that contains cockroaches and termites. Formerly, termites were considered a separate order, Isoptera, but genetics, genetic and molecular evidence suggests they evolved from within the cockroach ...

(cockroaches and termites) ** Order

Mantodea Mantises are an Order (biology), order (Mantodea) of insects that contains List of mantis genera and species, over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids") ...

(praying mantises) * Order

(grasshoppers, crickets, katydids) * Order

Dermaptera Earwigs make up the insect order Dermaptera. With about 2,000 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders. Earwigs have characteristic cerci, a pair of forceps-like pincers on their abdomen, and membranous wings folde ...

(earwigs) * Order

Embioptera The order Embioptera, commonly known as webspinners or footspinners, are a small group of mostly tropical and subtropical insects, classified under the subclass Pterygota. The order has also been called Embiodea or Embiidina. More than 400 spe ...

(web-spinners) * Order

Plecoptera Plecoptera is an order (biology), order of insects commonly known as stoneflies. Some 3,500 species are described worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica. Stoneflies are believed to b ...

(stoneflies) * Order

Grylloblattodea 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 ...

(ice-crawlers) * Order

(gladiators) * Order

Phasmatodea The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida or Phasmatoptera) are an Order (biology), order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick bugs, walkingsticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred ...

(stick and leaf insects) * Order

Zoraptera The insect order (biology), order Zoraptera, commonly known as angel insects, contains small and soft bodied insects with two forms: winged with wings sheddable as in termites, dark and with eyes (compound) and ocelli (simple); or wingless, pale ...

(angel insects)

Fossil

The following fossil groups are included in Polyneoptera: * Archaeorthoptera (Orthoptera and stem-group relatives) ** †

Caloneurodea Caloneurodea is an extinct order of polyneopteran neopteran insects in the superorder Orthopterida. Caloneurodea is known from fossils found in North America, Europe, Russia, and Asia and had a paleogeographic range confined to Laurussia. Famili ...

** † Cnemidolestodea (= Cnemidolestida) ** † Geraroptera ** †

Titanoptera 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 or even . Description Titanopterans are related ...

– Carboniferous to Triassic ** order ''

Incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'' *** family † Cacurgidae Handlirsch, 1911 *** family †

Chresmodidae Chresmodidae is an extinct family of Mesozoic insects within the superorder Polyneoptera. Genera *'' Chresmoda'' Late Jurassic-Cenomanian, Worldwide *'' Jurachresmoda'' Zhang, Ren & Shih, 2008 Middle Jurassic, Jiulongshan Formation *'' Sinochresmo ...

Haase, 1890 *** 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 ** †

Protelytroptera Protelytroptera is an extinct order of insects thought to be a stem group from which the modern Dermaptera evolved. These insects, which resemble modern Blattodea, or cockroaches, are known from the Permian of North America, Europe and Australi ...

* †"

Grylloblattida 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 (ice crawlers) native to cold montane environments ...

" (Stem-group Grylloblattodea?) ** †

Geinitziidae 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 ...

** † Gorochoviidae ** † Juraperlidae ** † Bajanzhargalanidae ** ... * † Eoblattida * † Paoliida * †

Protorthoptera The Protorthoptera are an extinct order of Palaeozoic insects, and represent a wastebasket taxon and paraphyletic assemblage of basal neoptera. They appear during the Middle Carboniferous (late Serpukhovian or early Bashkirian), making them amon ...

* † family Magicivenidae

Phylogeny

The following

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...

Taxonomy

Extant

Fossil

Phylogeny

See also

Notes

References

External links