Neuropterida

Neuropterida
	Sialis lutaria (Megaloptera: Sialidae)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Clade:	Holometabola
Clade:	Aparaglossata
Clade:	Neuropteroidea
Clade:	Neuropterida
Orders
	Megaloptera; Neuroptera; Raphidioptera; and see text;
Synonyms
	Neuroptera sensu Palker, 1982

The Neuropterida^[1] are a clade of holometabolous insects, sometimes placed at the superorder level. The clade contains the orders Neuroptera (lacewings, antlions), Megaloptera (alderflies, dobsonflies), and Raphidioptera (snakeflies), and includes over 5,700 described species.

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Historically, the name Neuroptera referred to this entire group, but it now refers only to lacewings and their relatives (antlions), which were formerly known as Planipennia. As part of the Holometabola and related to beetles, they can be considered an unranked taxon. Arguably, the Holometabola might instead be considered an unranked clade, and divided into numerous superorders to signify the close relationships of certain holometabolan groups.^[2]

Some authors formerly included the Mecoptera (scorpionflies) in Neuropterida, but they actually belong to the Mecopteroidea (or Antliophora), the holometabolan clade that also contains true flies and fleas.

Neuropterida are fairly primitive-looking insects with large wings but weak wing muscles, resulting in clumsy flight. Most adults are active at dusk or night, and many of the larvae are aquatic that live in rivers. The larvae, and in many cases the adults as well, are predators of small arthropods. Adult neuropteridans range in size from that of a midge to that of a large dragonfly (15 cm (5.9 in) wingspan); the largest species tend to resemble drab, clumsily flying damselflies.

In addition to the three living orders, the monotypic Rafaelidae are an entirely extinct family of Neuropterida. Their position is indeterminate but probably rather basal; thus, the single genus Rafaeliana from the Early Cretaceous Santana Formation's Crato Member in Brazil might be better placed directly in the Neuropterida for the time being, without assigning it to an order, until relatives are found and/or its systematic position is better resolved.^[2] The extinct order Glosselytrodea may also be a member or close relative, though its classification is unclear.^[3]

A phylogenomic analysis published in 2023 confirmed the topology of the neuropterid orders and found the relationships between the families of Neuropterida as shown in the following phylogenetic tree.^[4]

Neuropterida

Raphidioptera (snakeflies)