Holometabola

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Holometabola
Temporal range: Pennsylvanian–Recent Molecular clock indicates a possible Mississippian origin[1]
Panorpa communis, a scorpionfly (order Mecoptera)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Clade: Eumetabola
Clade: Holometabola
Burmeister, 1835
Orders

See text

Synonyms

Endopterygota Sharp, 1898

Holometabola (from Ancient Greek holo- "complete" + metabolḗ "change"), also known as Endopterygota (from endo- "inner" + ptéryg- "wing" + Neo-Latin -ota "-having"), is a supra-ordinal clade of insects within the infraclass Neoptera that go through distinctive larval, pupal, and adult stages. They undergo a radical metamorphosis, with the larval and adult stages differing considerably in their structure and behaviour. This is called holometabolism, or complete metamorphism.

Evolution

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The Holometabola constitute the most diverse insect superorder, with over 1 million living species divided between 11 orders, containing insects such as butterflies, flies, fleas, bees, ants, and beetles.[2]

The earliest holometabolan fossils date from the Carboniferous.[3]

The Holometabola are sometimes divided into three assemblages: Neuropterida (Neuroptera, Megaloptera, Raphidioptera, Strepsiptera and Coleoptera), Hymenopteroida (Hymenoptera), and Panorpida (Siphonaptera, Diptera, Trichoptera, Lepidoptera and Mecoptera).

Molecular analysis has clarified the group's phylogeny, as shown in the cladogram.[4]

Holometabola
Hymenopterida

Hymenoptera (sawflies, wasps, ants, bees)

Aparaglossata
Neuropteroidea
Neuropterida

Raphidioptera (snakeflies)

Megaloptera (alderflies and allies)

Neuroptera (Lacewings and allies)

Coleopterida

Coleoptera (beetles)

Strepsiptera (twisted-wing parasites)

Panorpida
Amphiesmenoptera

Trichoptera (caddisflies)

Lepidoptera (butterflies, moths)

Antliophora

Diptera (true flies)

Mecoptera (scorpionflies)

Siphonaptera (fleas)

(Endopterygota)

Description

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Holometabolism stages in Hymenoptera

The Endopterygota are distinguished from the Exopterygota ("external winged forms") by the way in which their wings develop. Endopterygota ("internal winged forms") develop wings inside the body and undergo an elaborate metamorphosis, holometabolism, involving a pupal stage. The Exopterygota develop wings on the outside of their bodies and do not go through a pupal stage. The Exopterygota are not a natural group (they are paraphyletic).[5]

See also

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Endopterygota.
  1. ^ Wang, Yan-hui; Engel, Michael S.; Rafael, José A.; Wu, Hao-yang; Rédei, Dávid; Xie, Qiang; Wang, Gang; Liu, Xiao-guang; Bu, Wen-jun (2016). "Fossil record of stem groups employed in evaluating the chronogram of insects (Arthropoda: Hexapoda)". Scientific Reports. 6 38939. Bibcode:2016NatSR...638939W. doi:10.1038/srep38939. PMC 5154178. PMID 27958352.
  2. ^ Rolf G. Beutel; Hans Pohl (2006). "Endopterygote systematics – where do we stand and what is the goal (Hexapoda, Arthropoda)?". Systematic Entomology. 31 (2): 202–219. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2006.00341.x. S2CID 83714402.
  3. ^ Nel, A.; Roques, P.; Nel, P.; Prokop, J.; Steyer, J. S. (2007). "The earliest holometabolous insect from the Carboniferous: a "crucial" innovation with delayed success (Insecta Protomeropina Protomeropidae)". Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. 43 (3): 349–355. doi:10.1080/00379271.2007.10697531. S2CID 86235521.
  4. ^ Kjer, Karl M.; Simon, Chris; Yavorskaya, Margarita; Beutel, Rolf G. (2016). "Progress, pitfalls and parallel universes: a history of insect phylogenetics". Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 13 (121): 121. doi:10.1098/rsif.2016.0363. PMC 5014063. PMID 27558853.
  5. ^ "Endopterygota". Royal Entomological Society. Retrieved 30 August 2025.