Alienopterus

Alienopterus brachyelytrus is an extinct genus of insect from the Cretaceous period of Southeast Asia and East Asia. The type species A. brachyelytrus was described from the Burmese amber (Cenomanian) of Myanmar, while the other species A. imposter was described from the Jinju Formation (Albian) of South Korea.^[2] It was the first known member of the order Alienoptera until 2018, when the second and third members of the order, Caputoraptor elegans, and Alienopterella stigmatica were described.^[3][4] A. brachyelytrus has characters that are shared with cockroaches and mantids and is thought to represent either the sister taxon, or an ancestor to mantids.^[5]

Alienopterus Temporal range: Albian–Cenomanian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Artistic restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Family:	†Alienopteridae
Genus:	†Alienopterus Bai et al., 2016
Species:	†A. brachyelytrus
Binomial name
†Alienopterus brachyelytrus Bai et al., 2016
Other species
†A. imposter Vršanský et al., 2025
Synonyms
†Aethiocarenus?[1] Poinar & Brown, 2017

Alienopterus has shortened forewings and functional hindwings capable of flight that are attached to pads as in the Mantophasmatodea. The foreleg has a femoral brush which is a characteristic of Mantodea. The mouth points downward from the body axis and has biting mouthparts suggestive of a predator. The antenna is long and there are large compound eyes as well as three ocelli on the head (which is never found in the Blattodea).^[5]

See also

• Manipulator, an extinct cockroach that have characters similar to mantids