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Pterygota is a subclass of insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s that includes the winged insects. It also includes insect orders that are secondarily wingless (that is, insect groups whose ancestors once had wings but that have lost them as a result of subsequent evolution).

The pterygotan group comprises almost all insects. The hexapod orders not included are the Microcoryphia (jumping bristletails) and the Thysanura
Thysanura

The insects of the order Thysanura, usually referred to as silverfish, may also be called bristletails, from their three long caudal filaments....
 (silverfish
Silverfish

Lepisma saccharina is a small, wingless insect typically measuring from a half to one inch . Its common name derives from the animal's silvery blue colour, combined with the fish-like appearance of its movements, while the scientific name indicates the silverfish's diet of carbohydrates such as sugar or starches....
es and firebrat
Firebrat

The Firebrat is a small insect similar to the Silverfish, both in the order Thysanura.Firebrats prefer higher temperatures and require some humidity, and can be found in bakery and near water heater or furnaces....
s), and two primitively wingless insect orders.






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Pterygota is a subclass of insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s that includes the winged insects. It also includes insect orders that are secondarily wingless (that is, insect groups whose ancestors once had wings but that have lost them as a result of subsequent evolution).

The pterygotan group comprises almost all insects. The hexapod orders not included are the Microcoryphia (jumping bristletails) and the Thysanura
Thysanura

The insects of the order Thysanura, usually referred to as silverfish, may also be called bristletails, from their three long caudal filaments....
 (silverfish
Silverfish

Lepisma saccharina is a small, wingless insect typically measuring from a half to one inch . Its common name derives from the animal's silvery blue colour, combined with the fish-like appearance of its movements, while the scientific name indicates the silverfish's diet of carbohydrates such as sugar or starches....
es and firebrat
Firebrat

The Firebrat is a small insect similar to the Silverfish, both in the order Thysanura.Firebrats prefer higher temperatures and require some humidity, and can be found in bakery and near water heater or furnaces....
s), and two primitively wingless insect orders. Also not included are the three orders that are no longer considered to be insects: Protura, Collembola, and Diplura.

Systematics

Traditionally, this group was divided into the infraclasses Paleoptera
Paleoptera

The name Palaeoptera has been traditionally applied to those primitive groups of winged insects that lacked the ability to fold the wings back over the abdomen as characterizes the Neoptera....
 and Neoptera
Neoptera

Neoptera is a classification group that includes almost all the winged insects, specifically those that can flex their wings over their abdomens....
. The former are nowadays strongly suspected of being paraphyletic, and better treatments (such as dividing or dissolving the group) are presently being discussed. In addition, it is not clear how exactly the neopterans are related among each other. The Exopterygota
Exopterygota

The Exopterygota, also known as Hemipterodea, are a superorder of insects of the subclass Pterygota in the infraclass Neoptera, in which the young resemble adults but have externally-developing wings....
 might be a similar assemblage of rather ancient hemimetabolous insects among the Neopteras like the Palaeoptera are among insects as a whole. The holometabolous Endopterygota
Endopterygota

The Endopterygota, also known as Holometabola, are insects of the subclass Pterygota which go through distinctive larval, pupal, and adult stages....
 seem to be very close relatives indeed, but nonetheless appear to contain several clades of related orders, the status of which is not agreed upon.

The following scheme uses finer divisions than the one above, which is not well-suited to correctly accommodating the fossil groups.

"Infraclass Paleoptera
Paleoptera

The name Palaeoptera has been traditionally applied to those primitive groups of winged insects that lacked the ability to fold the wings back over the abdomen as characterizes the Neoptera....
"

(probably paraphyletic)
  • Ephemeroptera (mayflies)
  • Palaeodictyoptera
    Palaeodictyoptera

    The Palaeodictyoptera are an extinct order of medium-sized to very large, primitive Palaeozoic Paleoptera insects, characterised by beak-like mouthparts, similarity between fore- and hind wings, and an additional pair of winglets on the prothorax, in front of the first pair of wings; though the paranota are technically not wings, the Palaeod...
     (Extinct)
  • Megasecoptera
    Megasecoptera

    Megasecoptera is a Paleozoic insect order. There were 22 families of megasecopterans with only about 35 known genera.Like all other Palaeodictyopteroidea, the megasecopterans had sucking mouthparts....
     (Extinct)
  • Archodonata (Extinct)
  • Diaphanopterodea
    Diaphanopterodea

    The Diaphanopterodea or Paramegasecoptera are an extinct order of moderate to large-sized Palaeozoic insects. They are first known from the Middle Carboniferous , and include some of the earliest known flying insects....
     (Extinct)
  • Protodonata
    Protodonata

    The Protodonata or Meganisoptera are an extinct order of very large to gigantic Palaeozoic insects, similar in appearance to, and related to, odonata....
     or Meganisoptera (Extinct; sometimes included in Odonata)
  • Protanisoptera (Extinct; sometimes included in Odonata)
  • Triadophlebioptera (Extinct; sometimes included in Odonata)
  • Protozygoptera or Archizygoptera (Extinct; sometimes included in Odonata)
  • Odonata
    Odonata

    Odonata is an Order of insects, encompassing Dragonfly and Damselfly . The word dragonfly is also sometimes used to refer to all Odonata. The term odonate has been coined to provide an English language name for the group as a whole, but is not in common usage; most Odonata enthusiasts avoid ambiguity by using the term true dragon...
     (dragonflies
    Dragonfly

    A dragonfly is a type of insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera....
     and damselflies
    Damselfly

    The Damselfly is an insect in the Order Odonata. Damselflies are similar to dragonfly, but the adults can be differentiated by the fact that the wings of most damselflies are held along, and parallel to, the body when at rest....
    )


Infraclass Neoptera
Neoptera

Neoptera is a classification group that includes almost all the winged insects, specifically those that can flex their wings over their abdomens....

Superorder Exopterygota
Exopterygota

The Exopterygota, also known as Hemipterodea, are a superorder of insects of the subclass Pterygota in the infraclass Neoptera, in which the young resemble adults but have externally-developing wings....
  • Caloneurodea (Extinct)
  • Titanoptera (Extinct)
  • Protorthoptera
    Protorthoptera

    The Protorthoptera are an extinct order of Palaeozoic insects, and represent a wastebasket taxon and paraphyletic assemblage of Basal neoptera....
     (Extinct)
  • Plecoptera
    Plecoptera

    Plecoptera are an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. There are some 1,700 recorded species worldwide, and new ones are still being discovered....
     (stoneflies)
  • Embioptera
    Embioptera

    Webspinners or embiids are a small group of mostly tropical and subtropical insects, classified under the Subclass Pterygota. The order has also been referred to as Embiodea or Embiidina The name Embioptera comes from Greek language, embio meaning lively and ptera meaning wings, and refers to the flutt...
     (webspinners)
  • Zoraptera
    Zoraptera

    The insect order Zoraptera contains one family which in turn contains one extant genus, Zorotypus, though an extinct animal of the Cretaceous era is classified as Xenozorotypus burmiticus within the same family....
     (angel insects)
  • Dermaptera (earwigs)
  • Orthoptera
    Orthoptera

    The Orthoptera are an order of insects with paurometabolous or incomplete metamorphosis, including the grasshoppers, cricket s and locusts. Many insects in this order produce sound by rubbing their wings against each other or their legs, the wings or legs containing rows of corrugated bumps....
     (grasshopper
    Grasshopper

    Grasshoppers are insects of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. To distinguish them from Tettigoniidae, they are sometimes referred to as short-horned grasshoppers....
    s, etc)
  • Proposed superorder Dictyoptera
    Dictyoptera

    Dictyoptera includes three groups of polyneopterous insects - cockroaches , termites and mantids . While all modern Dictyoptera have short ovipositors, the oldest fossils of Dictyoptera have long ovipositors, much like members of the Orthoptera....
    • Phasmatodea
      Phasmatodea

      "Phasmid" redirects here. For the cloning vector used in genetics, see phagemid.The Phasmatodea are an order of insects, whose members are variously known as stick insects , walking sticks or stick-bugs , phasmids, ghost insects and leaf insects ....
       (stick insects - tentatively placed here)
    • Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers - tentatively placed here)
    • Mantophasmatodea
      Mantophasmatodea

      Mantophasmatodea is a suborder of African carnivore insects discovered in 2002, originally considered to be a new order, but since relegated to subordinal status, and comprising the single family Mantophasmatidae....
       (gladiators - tentatively placed here)
    • Blattaria (cockroaches)
    • Isoptera (termites)
    • Mantodea (mantids)
  • Proposed superorder Paraneoptera
    • Psocoptera
      Psocoptera

      Psocoptera are an Order of insects that are commonly known as booklice, barklice or barkflies. They first appeared in the Permian period, 295?248 million years ago....
       (booklice, barklice)
    • Thysanoptera (thrips)
    • Phthiraptera (lice)
    • Hemiptera
      Hemiptera

      Hemiptera is an order of insects, comprising around 80,000 species of cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, and others. They range in size from 1 mm to around 15 cm, and share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts ....
       (true bugs)


Superorder Endopterygota
Endopterygota

The Endopterygota, also known as Holometabola, are insects of the subclass Pterygota which go through distinctive larval, pupal, and adult stages....
  • Hymenoptera
    Hymenoptera

    Hymenoptera is one of the larger order s of insects, comprising the sawfly, wasps, bees, and ants. The name refers to the membranous wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek language wikt:???? : membrane and wikt:pte??? : wing....
     (ant
    Ant

    Ants are Eusociality insects of the family Formicidae, and along with the related wasps and bees, they belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolution from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and Evolutionary radiation after the rise of flowering plants....
    s, bee
    Bee

    Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants. Bees are a monophyly lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila....
    s, etc.)
  • Coleoptera
    Beetle

    Beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms....
     (beetles)
  • Strepsiptera
    Strepsiptera

    The Strepsiptera are an order of insects with nine families making up about 600 species. The early stage larvae and the short-lived adult males are free-living but most of their life is spent as endoparasites in other insects such as bees, wasps, leafhoppers, silverfish, and cockroaches....
     (twisted-winged parasites)
  • Raphidioptera (snakeflies)
  • Megaloptera
    Megaloptera

    Megaloptera is an order of insects. It contains the Sialidae, dobsonflies and Fishfly, and there are about 300 known species. The Megaloptera were formerly considered part of a group then called Neuroptera, together with lacewings and snakefly, but these are now generally considered to be separate orders, with Neuroptera referring to the lac...
     (alderflies, etc.)
  • Neuroptera
    Neuroptera

    The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, Mantispidae, antlions, and their relatives. The order contains some 4,000 species....
     (net-veined insects)
  • Proposed superorder Mecopteroidea/Antliophora
    • Mecoptera
      Mecoptera

      Mecoptera are an order of insects with about 550 species in nine families worldwide. Mecoptera are sometimes called Scorpionfly after their largest family, Panorpidae, in which the males have enlarged genitals that look similar to the stinger of a scorpion....
       (scorpionflies, etc.)
    • Siphonaptera (flea
      Flea

      Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects whose mouthparts are adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood....
      s)
    • Diptera (true flies
      Fly

      True flies are insects of the Order Diptera , possessing a single pair of insect wing on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax....
      )
    • Protodiptera
      Protodiptera

      Protodiptera is an extinct order of insects....
       (Extinct)
  • Proposed superorder Amphiesmenoptera
    Amphiesmenoptera

    Amphiesmenoptera is an insect superorder, established by Willi Hennig in his revision of insect taxonomy for two sister orders: Lepidoptera and Trichoptera....
    • Trichoptera
      Trichoptera

      Caddisflies, sedge-flies or rail flies are small moth-like insects having two pairs of hairy membranous insect wing. They are closely related to Lepidoptera which have scales on their wings, and the two orders together form the superorder Amphiesmenoptera....
       (caddisflies)
    • Lepidoptera
      Lepidoptera

      Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
       (butterflies
      Butterfly

      A butterfly is an insect of the Order Lepidoptera. Like all Lepidoptera, butterflies are notable for their unusual Biological life cycle with a larval caterpillar stage, an inactive pupal stage, and a spectacular metamorphosis into a familiar and colourful winged adult form....
      , moth
      Moth

      A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the Order Lepidoptera. The differences between butterflies and moths are more than just taxonomy....
      s)


Neoptera orders incertae sedis
Incertae sedis

Incertae sedis , abbreviation "inc. sed.", is a term used to define a taxonomy group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined....
  • Glosselytrodea
    Glosselytrodea

    Glosselytrodea is an extinct order of insects....
     (Extinct)
  • Miomoptera
    Miomoptera

    Miomoptera is an extinct order of insects. It is considered to be a Common descent of all holometabolous insects, but because there is no known smooth transition between Miomoptera and other holometabolous insect orders it is considered to be in a separate superorder....
     (Extinct)