Early-diverging
Guides
Mantoididae
Mantoididae is a small, early-diverging family of praying mantises (Mantodea) comprising three extant genera and approximately 14 species. The family is consistently recovered as sister to all other mantises except Chaeteessidae. Members exhibit specialized hymenopteran mimicry, with some species displaying transformational mimicry during development. The family is restricted to the Neotropics.
Scirtoidea
Scirtoidea is a superfamily of small beetles within the suborder Polyphaga, traditionally comprising four families: Clambidae, Decliniidae, Eucinetidae, and Scirtidae. Molecular phylogenetics has challenged this circumscription, suggesting Clambidae and Eucinetidae belong to a separate superfamily Clamboidea. Scirtoidea and Clamboidea represent the two earliest diverging lineages of extant polyphagan beetles. The superfamily includes two extinct families known from Mesozoic deposits: †Mesocinetidae (Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous, Asia) and †Elodophthalmidae (Lebanese amber, Barremian).