Comparative Morphology of the Wing Base Structure Illuminates Higher-Level Phylogeny of Holometabola

Abstract

Simple Summary Insects that undergo complete metamorphosis, collectively known as Holometabola, are the most successful lineage of living organism, including about 830,000 species. Understanding the intricate relationships among the major groups of holometabolous insects is a critical task in systematic biology, particularly given their immense diversity. This research analyzed the wing base structure of Holometabola using comparative morphology to further clarify several crucial relationship nodes within Holometabola. Morphological data were selected from both the forewing base and hindwing base, comprising fifty-three discrete characters. Many phylogenetic relationship nodes among Holometabola were recovered exclusively using the wing base structure. Our research further highlights the efficacy of wing base morphology data in understanding insect phylogeny and evolution. Abstract Phylogenetic relationships among Holometabola have been the subject of controversy. The value of the wing base structure in phylogenetic analysis has been demonstrated but remains largely underexplored and scarce in studies of Holometabola. We studied the phylogenetic relationships among Holometabola (excluding Siphonaptera), focusing exclusively on wing base structure. Cladistic assessments were conducted using 53 morphological data points derived from the bases of both the forewing and hindwing. The results of wing base data revealed a sister relationship between Hymenoptera and remaining orders. The sister-group relationships between Strepsiptera and Coleoptera, Mecoptera and Diptera, Trichoptera and Lepidoptera, and Neuropterida and Coleopterida were corroborated. In Neuropterida, our results recovered the sister relationship between Megaloptera and Neuroptera, as well as the monophyly of Megaloptera.