Holometabola Temporal range: Mississippian origin[1]
Molecular clock indicates a possible | |
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Panorpa communis, a scorpionfly (order Mecoptera) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
(unranked): | Eumetabola |
(unranked): | Holometabola Burmeister, 1835 |
Orders | |
See text | |
Synonyms | |
Endopterygota Sharp, 1898 |
Holometabola (from Ancient Greek holo- "complete" + metabolḗ "change"), also known as Endopterygota (from endo- "inner" + ptéryg- "wing" + Neo-Latin -ota "-having"), is a superorder of insects within the infraclass Neoptera that go through distinctive larval, pupal, and adult stages. They undergo a radical metamorphosis, with the larval and adult stages differing considerably in their structure and behaviour. This is called holometabolism, or complete metamorphism.