Pterygota

Pterygota is a subdivision of insects that includes all winged insects and lineages in which wings have been secondarily lost. The name derives from the Greek pteron, meaning wing. In many classifications, Pterygota is divided into two major groups: Paleoptera and Neoptera. Paleoptera comprises Ephemeroptera (mayflies) and Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies); their wings cannot be folded flat over the abdomen. Neoptera includes the vast majority of living winged insects, such as beetles (Coleoptera), butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), flies (Diptera), bees, wasps, and ants (Hymenoptera), true bugs (Hemiptera), grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera), earwigs (Dermaptera), mantises (Mantodea), and cockroaches and termites (Blattodea and related groups).

Wings are a defining feature of the group, though many extant lineages have lost or reduced wings through evolution. The Pterygota are believed to have originated from winged ancestors during the Paleozoic era, with the earliest winged insects appearing in the Carboniferous period. This clade contrasts with the subdued, primitively wingless insects traditionally grouped as Apterygota in older classifications, reflecting a major evolutionary split between winged and wingless forms.

In modern systematics, Pterygota encompasses the majority of living insects and underpins much of insect diversity, ecology, and physiology. The distinction between Paleoptera and Neoptera highlights differences in wing folding capabilities and metamorphic development that have shaped the evolutionary trajectories of many orders within the group.