Editing Mecoptera (section)

===External relationships===
Mecoptera have special importance in the evolution of the insects. Two of the most important insect orders, [[Lepidoptera]] (butterflies and moths) and [[Diptera]] (true flies), along with [[Trichoptera]] (caddisflies), probably evolved from ancestors belonging to, or strictly related to, the Mecoptera. Evidence includes anatomical and biochemical similarities as well as [[transitional fossil]]s, such as ''[[Permotanyderus]]'' and ''[[Choristotanyderus]]'', which lie between the Mecoptera and Diptera. The group was once much more widespread and diverse than it is now, with four suborders during the [[Mesozoic]].<ref name=IIBD/>

It is unclear as of 2020 whether the Mecoptera form a single clade, or whether the [[Siphonaptera]] (fleas) are inside that clade, so that the traditional "Mecoptera" taxon is paraphyletic. However the earlier suggestion that the Siphonaptera are sister to the [[Boreidae]]<ref name=Whiting2008>{{cite journal |last1=Whiting |first1=Michael F. |author1-link=Michael F. Whiting|last2=Whiting |first2=Alison S. |last3=Hastriter |first3=Michael W. |last4=Dittmar |first4=Katharina |title=A molecular phylogeny of fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera): origins and host associations |journal=Cladistics |date=2008 |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=677–707 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-0031.2008.00211.x |citeseerx=10.1.1.731.5211  |s2cid=33808144 }}</ref><ref name=Whiting2002>{{cite journal |last1=Whiting |first1=Michael F. |author1-link=Michael F. Whiting|year=2002 |title=Mecoptera is paraphyletic: multiple genes and phylogeny of Mecoptera and Siphonaptera |journal=Zoologica Scripta |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=93–104 |url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118916123/abstract |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105095659/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118916123/abstract |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-05 |doi=10.1046/j.0300-3256.2001.00095.x |s2cid=56100681 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=WiegmannYates2012>{{cite book |last1=Wiegmann |first1=Brian |last2=Yeates |first2=David K. |title=The Evolutionary Biology of Flies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rElP5sNn6IYC&pg=PA5 |year=2012 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-50170-5 |page=5 |quote=Recently, a close affinity between Siphonaptera and Mecoptera has been convincingly demonstrated via morphology (Bilinski et al. 1998) and molecular data (Whiting 2002), rendering Mecoptera paraphyletic, but making the clade including Mecoptera and Siphonaptera monophyletic}}</ref> is not supported; instead, there is the possibility that they are sister to another Mecopteran family, the [[Nannochoristidae]]. The two possible trees are shown below:<ref name="Meusemann Trautwein 2020">{{cite bioRxiv |last1=Meusemann |first1=Karen |last2=Trautwein |first2=Michelle |last3=Friedrich |first3=Frank |last4=Beutel |first4=Rolf G. |last5=Wiegmann |first5=Brian M. |last6=Donath |first6=Alexander |last7=Podsiadlowski |first7=Lars |last8=Petersen |first8=Malte |last9=Niehuis |first9=Oliver |last10=Mayer |first10=Christoph |last11=Bayless |first11=Keith M. |last12=Shin |first12=Seunggwan |last13=Liu |first13=Shanlin |last14=Hlinka |first14=Ondrej |last15=Minh |first15=Bui Quang |last16=Kozlov |first16=Alexey |last17=Morel |first17=Benoit |last18=Peters |first18=Ralph S. |last19=Bartel |first19=Daniela |last20=Grove |first20=Simon |last21=Zhou |first21=Xin |last22=Misof |first22=Bernhard |last23=Yeates |first23=David K. |display-authors=5|title=Are Fleas Highly Modified Mecoptera? Phylogenomic Resolution of Antliophora (Insecta: Holometabola) |year=2020 |biorxiv=10.1101/2020.11.19.390666}}</ref>

(a) Mecoptera (clades in boldface) is paraphyletic, containing Siphonaptera:<ref name="Meusemann Trautwein 2020"/><ref name="Tihelka Giacomelli 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Tihelka |first1=Erik |last2=Giacomelli |first2=Mattia |last3=Huang |first3=Di-Ying |last4=Pisani |first4=Davide |last5=Donoghue |first5=Philip C. J. |last6=Cai |first6=Chen-Yang |title=Fleas are parasitic scorpionflies |journal=Palaeoentomology |volume=3 |issue=6 |year=2020 |pages=641–653 |issn=2624-2834 |doi=10.11646/palaeoentomology.3.6.16|doi-access=free |hdl=1983/8d3c12c6-529c-4754-b59d-3abf88a32fc9 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

{{clade
|label1=[[Antliophora]]
|1={{clade 
   |1=[[Diptera]] (true flies) [[File:Common house fly, Musca domestica.jpg|70px]] 
   |grouplabel2={{clade labels|label1=<span style="color:red;padding:1em;">Mecoptera</span> |top1=38%}}
   |2={{clade
       |1='''[[Pistillifera]]''' (scorpionflies, hangingflies, 400 [[Species|spp]].) [[File:Gunzesrieder Tal Insekt 3.jpg|90px]] |bar1=red
       |2={{clade
          |2={{clade
             |1='''[[Nannochoristidae]]''' (southern scorpionflies, 8 spp.)[[File:Nannochorista philpotti (cropped).jpg|85px]]&nbsp;  |bar1=red
             |2=[[Siphonaptera]] (fleas, 2500 spp.) [[File:British Entomologycutted Plate114.png|50px]]
             }}
          |1='''[[Boreidae]]''' (snow scorpionflies, 30 spp.) [[File:Boreus hiemalis2 detail.jpg|85px]]  |bar1=red
          }}
      }}
   }}
}}

(b) Mecoptera is monophyletic, sister to Siphonaptera:<ref name="Meusemann Trautwein 2020"/>

{{clade
|label1=[[Antliophora]]
|1={{clade 
   |1=[[Diptera]] (true flies) [[File:Common house fly, Musca domestica.jpg|70px]] 
   |2={{clade
       |label1='''Mecoptera'''
       |1={{clade
          |1={{clade
             |1=[[Pistillifera]] (scorpionflies, hangingflies, 400 [[Species|spp]].) [[File:Gunzesrieder Tal Insekt 3.jpg|90px]]
             |2=[[Boreidae]] (snow scorpionflies, 30 spp.) [[File:Boreus hiemalis2 detail.jpg|85px]]
             }}
          |2=[[Nannochoristidae]] (southern scorpionflies, 8 spp.)[[File:Nannochorista philpotti (cropped).jpg|85px]]
          }}
       |label2=[[Siphonaptera]] 
       |2= (fleas, 2500 spp.) [[File:Pulex irritans female ZSM.jpg|50px]]
      }}
   }}
}}