Dicondylia

Dicondylia
Temporal range: 396–0 Ma Early Devonian[1] (but see text)–Present
Clockwise from top left: dance fly (Empis livida), long-nosed weevil (Rhinotia hemistictus), mole cricket (Gryllotalpa brachyptera), German wasp (Vespula germanica), emperor gum moth (Opodiphthera eucalypti), assassin bug (Harpactorinae)
A chorus of several Magicicada species
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
(unranked): Dicondylia
Hennig, 1953
Subgroups
Synonyms
  • Ectognatha
  • Entomida

The Dicondylia are a taxonomic group (taxon) that includes all insects except the jumping bristletails (Archaeognatha). Dicondylia have a mandible attached with two hinges to the head capsule (dicondyl), in contrast to a hypothetical ancestral mandible with a single ball joint (monocondyl); the members of Archaeognatha do in fact have dicondylic mandibles, though they are not identical to the structure seen in "true" dicondylic insects.[2]

  1. ^ Engel, Michael S.; David A. Grimaldi (2004). "New light shed on the oldest insect". Nature. 427 (6975): 627–630. Bibcode:2004Natur.427..627E. doi:10.1038/nature02291. PMID 14961119.
  2. ^ Blanke, A.; Machida, R.; Szucsich, N.U.; Wilde, F.; Misof, B. (2015). "Mandibles with two joints evolved much earlier in the history of insects: dicondyly is a synapomorphy of bristletails, silverfish and winged insects". Systematic Entomology. 40 (2): 357–364. doi:10.1111/syen.12107.