''Strudiella devonica'' is a species of extinct arthropod from

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

, originally described as the first complete Late Devonian terrestrial insect. It was recovered in the

Strud Strud is a hamlet of the village of Haltinne, Wallonia, located in the municipality of Gesves, province of Namur, Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Euro ...

(

Gesves Gesves (; wa, Djeve) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Faulx-les-Tombes, Gesves, Haltinne, Mozet, and Sorée. It also includes the hamlets of Gramp ...

, Belgium) environment from the Bois des Mouches Formation, Upper Famennian. It had unspecialized, 'orthopteroid', mouthparts, indicating an omnivorous diet. This discovery reduces a previous gap of 45 million years in the evolutionary history of insects, part of the

arthropod gap The arthropod gap is an apparent gap in the arthropod fossil record used in the study of evolutionary biology. It still occurs in the early Carboniferous, coinciding and extending past the Romer's gap for tetrapods, who were newly arriving on land ...

(the 'gap' still occurs in the early Carboniferous, coinciding and extending past the Romer's gap for tetrapods, which may have been caused by low oxygen levels in the atmosphere). Body segments, legs and antennae are visible; however, genitalia were not preserved. The specimen has no wings, but it may be a juvenile. Later study shows extra legs, and based on its poor state of preservation, its interpretation as an insect is unwarranted.

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* * Prehistoric insect genera Insects described in 2012 Fossil taxa described in 2012 Late Devonian animals Famennian life Fossils of Belgium Evolution of insects Taxa named by Michael S. Engel {{Devonian-animal-stub Controversial taxa

See also

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