| Characteristics | Orders |
| eyeless, wingless, furca, collophore | |
| wingless, eyeless, terminal cerci | |
| eyeless, wingless, no antennae | |
| wingless, three terminal cerci, humped thorax | |
| wingless, flattened, three terminal cerci | |
| large triangular forewings, small hindwings, leaf-like adomenal gills in nymphs | |
| unhinged wings, extensible labial and terminal leaf-like or rectal gills in nymphs | |
| 2 terminal filaments, wings flat on back, gills hair-like or absent in nymphs | |
| terminal forceps, leathery fore wings and overlapping hind wings | |
| swollen silk glands in basal fore tarsus | |
| 9 segmented antennae, short and swollen 11 segmented abdomen | |
| hind legs often enlarged for jumping | |
| stick or leaf-like appearance, enlongated legs | |
| wingless, stout coxae, sometimes found on ice or snow | |
| wingless, fore- and mid legs raptorial, distal tarsomeres held upright | |
| raptorial fore legs, long prothorax, triangular head | |
| large and sheild-like pronotum, leathery fore wings | |
| | Characteristics | Orders |
| colonies with all castes containing both sexes, reproductives have 2 pairs long and equal-sized wings | |
| wings roof-like at rest, enlarged cypeus | |
| dorsoventrally flattened, wingless, ectoparasites, feet adapted for grasping | |
| feeding tube formed form three stylets, fringe on wings, terminally tampered abdomen | |
| rostrum directed posteriorly at rest, wings absent or overlap at tip | |
| highly veinous wings and chewing mouthparts in adults, piercing/sucking mouthparts in larva | |
| multiple filaments on larval abdomens, huge mouthparts in nonfeeding adults | |
| long and snake-like prothorax, wings always present in adults | |
| often heavily armored by nonoverlapping hardened fore wings, fly poorly with hind wings | |
| males fore wings reduced to halteres, females wingless and remain host | |
| hind wings reduced to halteres, larvae lack jointed appendages | |
| elongated rostrum, male abdomen sometimes having terminal claspers held upright, larvae usually having a single terminal pair of prolegs | |
| laterally compressed ectoparasites, mouthparts piercing and sucking, backwardly directed setae and spines | |
| larvae often case forming, hairy wings held roof-like at rest | |
| scales on wings, most have long coiled proboscis, jointed legs and multiple pairs of prolegs in larvae | |
| fore and hing wings coupled by hooks, some species have constriction between 1st and 2nd abdominal segment | |
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