''Gerarus'' is an extinct genus of Archaeorthopteran insect, and is one of the most abundant genera of Carboniferous

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s. They had a wingspan of up to , and an inflated

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...

armed with sharp spines up to long. Gerarus sp

References

Carboniferous insects Carboniferous arthropods of North America Prehistoric insects of Europe Prehistoric insect genera Insect enigmatic taxa Fossil taxa described in 1885 {{carboniferous-animal-stub