Alienopteridae (lat.) - fossil insect family. They include either a cockroach (Blattaria) [1] in the squadron or single out a new Alienoptera squad, close to praying mantis and cockroaches. Found in the Cretaceous deposits of Myanmar and Brazil and in the Eocene of the USA [2] [1] .
| † Alienopteridae |
| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetric |
| Squad: | † Alienoptera Bai, Beutel, Klass, Wipfler et Zhang, 2016 |
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| International Scientific Name |
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Alienopteridae Bai, Beutel, Klass, Wipfler et Zhang, 2016 |
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Content
Medium-sized insects, body length about 1 cm ( Grant viridifluvius up to 2 cm). Mouth apparatus of the gnawing type. Antennae long, filiform, multi-segmented. The head is orthognatic, subtriangular in shape, wider than the pronotum. Large faceted eyes and three ocellia developed. The front wings shortened, modified in pseudo-wings, partially cover the well-developed rear wings. Paws of the 5th segment. All calves with two vertex spurs. Between the claws of the paws is arolyum. There are multi-segment cerci at the end of the abdomen. Some unusual signs, such as shortened front wings, combined with normally developed functioning rear wings, are similar to those of earwigs ( Dermaptera ), and specialized large arolyum (suckers on paws) of the front legs, front thighs with a spike brush for catching or holding prey (presumably aphids or ticks), and are generally similar in appearance to mantophasmatids ( Mantophasmatodea ). The structure of the genitalia and phylogenetic analysis showed that Alienoptera is a sister group to the order mantis ( Mantodea ). Mimicking ants (for example, Grant viridifluvius , Teyia branislav , Teyia huangi ), bees ( Apiblatta muratai , Meilia jinghanae ) and wasps ( Chimaeroblattina brevipes ) [2] [1] .
For the first time, the family was allocated in 2016 by Chinese and German entomologists from scientific institutions in Beijing , Jena and Dresden, according to a single male from Burmese amber ( Myanmar ). The name Alienopteridae comes from the type name Alienopterus , which, in turn, is formed from two words: lat. alienus ("other", "unusual") and Greek. πτερόν (“wing”) [2] . Alienoptera became the fourth new insect squad established in the XXI century after Mantophasmatodea in 2002 (later they were reduced to the level of a suborder), the Nakridletia squad in 2010 (later synonymous with two wings) and Coxoplectoptera in 2011 [3] . In 2018, the Alienopteridae family was proposed to include cockroaches (Blattaria, Umenocoleoidea) into the squad [1] .
- Alienopterella Kočárek, 2018
- Alienopterella stigmatica Kočárek, 2018 [4]
- Alienopterix Mlynský, Vršanský et Wang, 2018
- Alienopterix ocularis Mlynský, Vršanský et Wang, 2018
- Alienopterus Bai et al. 2016
- Alienopterus brachyelytrus Bai et al. 2016
- Apiblatta Barna et Bigalk, 2018
- Apiblatta muratai Barna et Bigalk, 2018 (Brazil)
- Caputoraptor Bai et al. , 2018
- Caputoraptor elegans Bai et al. 2018 [5] .
- Caputoraptor vidit Šmídová, Vršanský et Wang, 2018
- Chimaeroblattina Barna, 2018
- Chimaeroblattina brevipes Barna, 2018 (USA)
- Grant Aristov, 2018
- Grant viridifluvius Aristov, 2018 (US)
- Meilia Vršanský et Wang, 2018
- Meilia jinghanae Vršanský et Wang, 2018
- Teyia Vršanský, Mlynský et Wang, 2018
- Teyia branislav Vršanský et Wang, 2018
- Teyia huangi Vršanský, Mlynský et Wang, 2018
- Vcelesvab Vršanský, Barna et Bigalk, 2018
- Vcelesvab cratocretokrat Vršanský, Barna et Bigalk, 2018 (Brazil)