Palaeodictyopterida

The Paleodictyopterida or Palaeodictyopteroidea are an extinct superorder of Palaeozoic beaked insects, characterised by unique mouthparts consisting of 5 stylets. They represent the first important terrestrial herbivores, and the first major group of herbivorous insects. They appear during the Carboniferous (Serpukhovian stage) and continue through to the Late Permian. This large and diverse group includes 50% of all known Paleozoic insects. Palaeodictyopteroidea nymphs possessed movable wing pads and appear to have been able to perform simple flapping flight.

Phylogeny

An analysis by Sroka et al. (2015) recovered the following phylogenetic tree:

Dicondylia	Zygentoma Paranotalia †Carbotriplurida Pterygota Neopterygota †Palaeodictyopterida †Spilapteridae †Thesoneuridae †Homoiopteridae †Eugereonidae †Dictyoneuridae †Megasecoptera †Permothemistida †Diaphanopterodea Neoptera Hydropalaeoptera †Bojophlebiidae Euhydropalaeoptera Odonatoptera Panephemeroptera
	Zygentoma

Paranotalia	†Carbotriplurida Pterygota Neopterygota †Palaeodictyopterida †Spilapteridae †Thesoneuridae †Homoiopteridae †Eugereonidae †Dictyoneuridae †Megasecoptera †Permothemistida †Diaphanopterodea Neoptera Hydropalaeoptera †Bojophlebiidae Euhydropalaeoptera Odonatoptera Panephemeroptera
	†Carbotriplurida

Pterygota	Neopterygota †Palaeodictyopterida †Spilapteridae †Thesoneuridae †Homoiopteridae †Eugereonidae †Dictyoneuridae †Megasecoptera †Permothemistida †Diaphanopterodea Neoptera Hydropalaeoptera †Bojophlebiidae Euhydropalaeoptera Odonatoptera Panephemeroptera
Neopterygota	†Palaeodictyopterida †Spilapteridae †Thesoneuridae †Homoiopteridae †Eugereonidae †Dictyoneuridae †Megasecoptera †Permothemistida †Diaphanopterodea Neoptera
†Palaeodictyopterida	†Spilapteridae †Thesoneuridae †Homoiopteridae †Eugereonidae †Dictyoneuridae †Megasecoptera †Permothemistida †Diaphanopterodea
	†Spilapteridae

	†Thesoneuridae †Homoiopteridae †Eugereonidae †Dictyoneuridae †Megasecoptera †Permothemistida †Diaphanopterodea
	†Thesoneuridae

	†Homoiopteridae †Eugereonidae †Dictyoneuridae †Megasecoptera †Permothemistida †Diaphanopterodea
	†Homoiopteridae

	†Eugereonidae †Dictyoneuridae †Megasecoptera †Permothemistida †Diaphanopterodea
	†Eugereonidae

	†Dictyoneuridae †Megasecoptera †Permothemistida †Diaphanopterodea
	†Dictyoneuridae

	†Megasecoptera †Permothemistida †Diaphanopterodea
	†Megasecoptera

	†Permothemistida †Diaphanopterodea
	†Permothemistida

	†Diaphanopterodea








	Neoptera


Hydropalaeoptera	†Bojophlebiidae Euhydropalaeoptera Odonatoptera Panephemeroptera
	†Bojophlebiidae

Euhydropalaeoptera	Odonatoptera Panephemeroptera
	Odonatoptera

	Panephemeroptera

Grimaldi, David & Engel, Michael S. (2005). Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-82149-0.
Rasnitsyn, A.P. & Quicke, D.L.J. (2002). History of Insects. Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4020-0026-3.
Haug, Joachim T.; Haug, Carolin; Garwood, Russell J. (2014). . Biological Reviews. 91 (1): 53–69. doi:. PMID .

External links

at the Tree of Life project
by Nina Sinitshenkova, 2002