English: Stylops; Twisted-winged parasites.
Genera: 9 families; 600 species.
ZooologyThey are endoparasites in other insects, such as bees, wasps, leafhoppers, silverfish, and cockroaches. Females of most species never emerge from the host after entering its body, finally dying inside it. The early-stage larvae do emerge because they must find an unoccupied living host, and the short-lived males must emerge to seek a receptive female in her host.
TaxonomyThey are believed to be most closely related to beetles, from which they diverged 300–350 million years ago, but do not appear in the fossil record until the Mid-Cretaceous around 100 million years ago.
The order is not well known to non-specialists, and the nearest they have to a common name is "stylops".
FamiliesBahiaxenidae
Bohartillidae
Callipharixenidae
Corioxenidae
Elenchidae
Halictophagidae
Mengenillidae
Myrmecolacidae
Stylopidae