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Insects are the only group of invertebrates that have evolved wings and flight. Insects first flew in the Carboniferous, some 300 to 350 million years ago, making them the first animals to evolve flight. Wings may have evolved from appendages on the sides of existing limbs, which already had nerves, joints, and muscles used for other purposes.
The first insects were landbound, but about 400 million years ago in the Devonian period one lineage of insects evolved flight, the first animals to do so. [1] The oldest insect fossil has been proposed to be Rhyniognatha hirsti , estimated to be 400 million years old, but the insect identity of the fossil has been contested. [ 3 ]
Each of the fly's six legs has a typical insect structure of coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia and tarsus, with the tarsus in most instances being subdivided into five tarsomeres. [34] At the tip of the limb is a pair of claws, and between these are cushion-like structures known as pulvilli which provide adhesion.
It has been considered in some analyses as the oldest insect known, as well as possibly being a flying insect. [1] Rhyniognatha is known from a partial head with preserved mouthparts from the Early Devonian aged Rhynie chert around 400 million years ago, when Earth’s first terrestrial ecosystems were being formed.
Adult mayflies, or imagos, are relatively primitive in structure, exhibiting traits that were probably present in the first flying insects. These include long tails and wings that do not fold flat over the abdomen. [8] Mayflies are delicate-looking insects with one or two pairs of membranous, triangular wings, which are extensively covered with ...
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world.
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The genus belongs to the Meganeuridae, a family including other similarly giant dragonfly-like insects ranging from the Late Carboniferous to Middle Permian. With single wing length reaching 32 centimetres (13 in) [1] and a wingspan about 65–75 cm (2.13–2.46 ft), [2] [3] [4] M. monyi is one of the largest-known flying insect species.