Belongs within: Palaeoptera.
The Spilapteroidea were a group of palaeodictyopteran insects found from the Lower Carboniferous to the mid-Permian. Delitzschala bitterfieldensis was one of the earliest known winged insects. Members have broad wings and well-developed prothoracic winglets (Sinitshenkova 2002).
Characters (Sinitshenkova 2002): Wings wide basally; prothoracic winglets well-developed; veins not bent at base of wing; MA vein multibranched.
<==Spilapteroidea
|--AenigmatidiidaeS02
|--FouqueidaeS02
|--HomothetidaeS02
|--LamproptilidaeS02
|--MecynostomataRJ93 [MecynostomatidaeS02]
| `--M. dohrni [=Mecynostoma dohrni]RJ93
`--Spilapteridae [Neuburgiidae]S02
|--Delitzschala bitterfeldensis Brauckmann & Schneider 1995S02, FT05
|--Dunbaria fascipennisS02, GE05
|--Paradunbaria pectinataS02
|--Vorkutoneura variabilisS02
`--HomaloneuraR70
|--H. lehmaniK-P91
|--H. ligeia Brauckmann 1986RJ93
`--H. ornataR70
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[FT05] Fayers, S. R., & N. H. Trewin. 2005. A hexapod from the Early Devonian Windyfield Chert, Rhynie, Scotland. Palaeontology 48 (5): 1117–1130.
[GE05] Grimaldi, D., & M. S. Engel. 2005. Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press: New York.
[K-P91] Kukalová-Peck, J. 1991. Fossil history and the evolution of hexapod structures. In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers vol. 1 pp. 141–179. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).
[R70] Riek, E. F. 1970. Fossil history. In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 168–186. Melbourne University Press.
[RJ93] Ross, A. J., & E. A. Jarzembowski. 1993. Arthropoda (Hexapoda; Insecta). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 363–426. Chapman & Hall: London.
[S02] Sinitshenkova, N. D. 2002. Superorder Dictyoneuridea Handlirsch, 1906 (=Palaeodictyopteroidea). In: Rasnitsyn, A. P., & D. L. J. Quicke (eds) History of Insects pp. 115–124. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.