Notoptera

Crampton, 1915

Ice Crawlers and Heelwalkers, Gladiators and Ice Crawlers

Order Guides

1

is a clade of wingless insects within that unites two living groups: (heelwalkers or gladiators) native to southern Africa, and Grylloblattidae (ice crawlers) native to cold montane environments in the Northern Hemisphere. The group was originally proposed as an order in 1915, largely forgotten, then resurrected in 2004 to encompass both living and fossil representatives. Fossil stem-group notopterans date to the Late Carboniferous (~320 million years ago) and were winged, unlike modern members.

Grylloblatta campodeiformis Walker1 by E.M. Walker. Used under a Public domain license.GrylloblattaCampodeiformis by Maxwell Lefroy. Used under a Public domain license.Grylloblatta campodeiformis Walker2 by E.M. Walker. Used under a Public domain license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Notoptera: /nɔˈtɒptərə/

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Identification

contains two highly divergent living that share only the trait of being wingless. are medium-sized, elongate insects with forelegs resembling small mantises, found in rocky of southern Africa. Grylloblattidae are slender, elongate insects with long and , pale in color, adapted to cold environments. The two families are not sympatric and occupy entirely different geographic regions and habitats.

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Habitat

inhabit rocky outcrops, scrub vegetation, and grasslands in southern and southwestern Africa. Grylloblattidae are restricted to cold montane environments in the Northern Hemisphere, including glaciers, snowfields, caves, and cold streams at high elevations.

Distribution

: southern and southwestern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, western Tanzania). Grylloblattidae: cold montane regions of western North America (Rocky Mountains, Coast–Cascade Cordillera), eastern Siberia, Korea, Japan, and China.

Human Relevance

has minimal direct human relevance. Neither living is of economic importance, pest status, or medical significance. The group is of scientific interest due to its phylogenetic position within and its unusual combination of primitive and derived traits. Grylloblattidae are considered for cold, stable environments and may be vulnerable to climate change.

Similar Taxa

  • Mantodea (mantises) superficially resemble mantises due to forelegs, but differ in body plan, , and geographic distribution; molecular places them in separate orders
  • Blattodea (cockroaches)Grylloblattidae were historically classified with due to general body shape, but differ in specialization, , and phylogenetic position

More Details

Taxonomic history

The name was coined by Crampton in 1915 for Grylloblattidae alone, then fell into disuse. Engel and Grimaldi (2004) resurrected and redefined it as 'Notoptera Crampton sensu novum' to encompass both and Grylloblattidae after the 2002 discovery of living mantophasmatids. Terry and Whiting (2005) independently proposed '' for the same clade. Some authors treat Grylloblattodea and as suborders within Notoptera.

Evolutionary significance

represents one of the few major insect lineages where wings have been secondarily lost in all living representatives. Stem-group notopterans were diverse and winged during the Permian, constituting up to a third of insects at some localities. Wing loss in and Grylloblattidae is thought to have occurred independently.

Fossil record

Extinct attributed to include Eoblattida and Reculida, containing numerous winged from the Carboniferous through Early Cretaceous. The youngest winged 'grylloblattidans' date to the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (~100 million years ago).

Sources and further reading