Editing Neuroptera (section)

{{Short description|Order of insects}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2016}}<!--ab ovo, it seems-->
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|299|0}}<small>[[Permian]] to recent</small>
| image = Crisopid July 2013-9a.jpg
| image_caption = [[Green lacewing]]
| taxon = Neuroptera
| authority = [[Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| subdivision_ranks = Clades
| subdivision = See [[#Taxonomy|taxonomy]]
}}

The [[insect]] [[order (biology)|order]] '''Neuroptera''', or '''net-winged insects''', includes the [[lacewing]]s, [[mantidflies]], [[antlion]]s, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 [[species]].<ref name="Grimaldi">{{Cite book |author=[[David Grimaldi (entomologist)|David Grimaldi]] & [[Michael S. Engel]] |year=2005 |title=Evolution of the Insects |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-521-82149-5}}</ref> Neuroptera is grouped together with the [[Megaloptera]] ([[alderflies]], [[fishflies]], and [[dobsonflies]]) and [[Raphidioptera]] (snakeflies) in the unranked taxon [[Neuropterida]] (once known as Planipennia).

Adult neuropterans have four membranous wings, all about the same size, with many [[wing vein|vein]]s. They have chewing mouthparts, and undergo complete [[metamorphosis]].

Neuropterans first appeared during the [[Permian]] [[Period (geology)|period]], and continued to diversify through the [[Mesozoic era]].<ref name="Ponomarenko 2004">{{cite journal |author1=A. G. Ponomarenko |author2=D. E. Shcherbakov |name-list-style=amp |year=2004 |title=New lacewings (Neuroptera) from the terminal Permian and basal Triassic of Siberia |journal=[[Paleontological Journal]] |volume=38 |issue=S2 |pages=S197–S203 |url=http://www.palaeoentomolog.ru/Publ/PALS197.pdf}}</ref> During this time, several unusually large forms evolved, especially in the extinct [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Kalligrammatidae]], often called "the [[butterflies]] of the [[Jurassic]]" for their large, patterned wings.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Michael S. Engel |year=2005 |title=A remarkable kalligrammatid lacewing from the Upper Jurassic of Kazakhstan (Neuroptera: Kalligrammatidae) |journal=[[Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science]] |volume=108 |issue=1 |pages=59–62 |doi=10.1660/0022-8443(2005)108[0059:ARKLFT]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=86240200 }}</ref>