Whazzits get their own insect order
By Susan Milius
Insect specimens that have puzzled museum curators for decades turn out to represent a lineage so odd that scientists have named a new order just for them, the first one created in 87 years.
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The order, Mantophasmatodea, has at least three species, say Klaus-Dieter Klass of the University of Copenhagen and three colleagues in an upcoming article in Science. They’ve nicknamed these critters gladiators because the spiky heads suggest Hollywood helmets.