The Strepsiptera genome sequence data were exploited to
test the following four current competing hypotheses about
the phylogenetic origin of Strepsiptera (Figure 1B): (1) Strepsiptera are the sister group of all remaining insects with
complete metamorphosis (Holometabola) [15], (2) Strepsiptera
are the sister group of beetles (Coleoptera) [8], (3) Strepsiptera
are a derived lineage of polyphagan beetles [9], and (4) Strepsiptera are the sister group of Diptera [5, 16, 17].