Extinct insect orders

Meganisoptera is an extinct order of large dragonfly-like insects, informally known as griffenflies or (incorrectly) as giant dragonflies. The order was formerly named Protodonata, the "proto-Odonata", for their similar appearance and supposed relation to modern Odonata (damselflies and dragonflies). They range in Palaeozoic (Late Carboniferous to Late Permian) times. Though most were only slightly larger than modern dragonflies, the order includes the largest known insect species, such as the late Carboniferous Meganeura monyi and the even larger early Permian Meganeuropsis permiana, with win

The Palaeodictyoptera are an extinct order of medium-sized to very large, primitive Palaeozoic paleopterous insects. They are informative about the evolution of wings in insects.

The Diaphanopterodea or Paramegasecoptera are an extinct order of moderate to large-sized Palaeozoic insects. They are first known from the Middle Carboniferous (late Serpukhovian or early Bashkirian in age), and include some of the earliest known flying insects.

Titanoptera (from Ancient Greek Τιτάν (Titán), meaning "Titan", and πτερόν (pterón), meaning "wing") is an extinct order of neopteran insects from late Carboniferous to Triassic periods. Titanopterans were very large in comparison with modern insects, some having wingspans of up to or even .

Megasecoptera is a Paleozoic insect order. There are 22 known families of megasecopterans, with about 35 known genera.

Miomoptera is an extinct order of insects. Although it is thought to be a common ancestor of all holometabolous insects, because no smooth transition between Miomoptera and other holometabolous insect orders is known, it is considered to be in a separate order unto itself.

The Protorthoptera are an extinct order of Palaeozoic insects, and represent a wastebasket taxon and paraphyletic assemblage of basal neoptera. They appear during the Middle Carboniferous (late Serpukhovian or early Bashkirian), making them among the earliest known winged insects in the fossil record. Pronotal lobes may be expanded to form a shield. The group includes the ancestors of all other polyneopterous insects.

Coxoplectoptera or "chimera wings" is an extinct order of stem-group mayflies containing one family, Mickoleitiidae. Together with mayflies (Ephemeroptera), Coxoplectoptera are assigned to the clade Heptabranchia.

Glosselytrodea is an extinct order of insects, containing about thirty species. Its fossil record dates from the Permian to the Upper Jurassic, and is distributed across Eurasia, the Americas, and Australia. Its classification is uncertain, but may be closely related to Neuropterida or Polyneoptera (Orthopteroidea). While many details of their anatomy remain unclear, the wing venation of Permoberothidae resembles that of Neuropterida, whereas the wing venation of most other taxa is closer to that of orthopteroids (and thus Permoberothidae may not be closely related to the rest).

Caloneurodea is an extinct order of polyneopteran neopteran insects in the superorder Orthopterida. Caloneurodea is known from fossils found in North America, Europe, Russia, and Asia and had a paleogeographic range confined to Laurussia.

"Roachoids", also known as "Roachids", "Blattoids" or Eoblattodea, are members of the stem group of Dictyoptera (the group containing modern cockroaches, termites and praying mantises). They generally resemble cockroaches, but most members, unlike modern dictyopterans, have generally long external ovipositors, and are thought not to have laid ootheca like modern dictyopterans.

Paoliida is an extinct order of winged insects that lived in the late Paleozoic. Historically, both their systematic position and composition were controversial – for instance they had been considered as palaeodictyopterans, as basal Neoptera, or as stem-group of Pterygota – but recent studies have resolved them as the sister group of Dictyoptera.

Protodiptera is an extinct suborder of mecopteran insects containing the two families Permotanyderidae and Permotipulidae with a total of four genera Choristotanyderus, Permila, Permotanyderus and Permotipula. ==References==

thumb|A phylogeny of Dermaptera and related groups Protelytroptera is an extinct order of insects thought to be a stem group from which the modern Dermaptera evolved. These insects, which resemble modern Blattodea, or cockroaches, are known from the Permian of North America, Europe and Australia, from the fossils of their shell-like forewings and the large, unequal anal fan. None of their fossils are known from the Triassic, when the morphological changes from Protelytroptera to Dermaptera presumably took place.