Editing Flea (section)

=== External phylogeny ===
It was historically unclear whether the Siphonaptera are sister to the [[Mecoptera]] (scorpionflies and allies), or are inside that clade, making "Mecoptera" paraphyletic. The earlier suggestion that the Siphonaptera are sister to the [[Boreidae]] (snow scorpionflies)<ref name=Whiting2008>{{cite journal |last1=Whiting |first1=Michael F. |author1-link=Michael F. Whiting|last2=Whiting |first2=Alison S. |last3=Hastriter |first3=Michael W. |last4=Dittmar |first4=Katharina |title=A molecular phylogeny of fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera): origins and host associations |journal=Cladistics |date=2008 |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=677–707 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-0031.2008.00211.x |citeseerx=10.1.1.731.5211  |s2cid=33808144 }}</ref><ref name=Whiting2002>{{cite journal |last1=Whiting |first1=Michael F. |author1-link=Michael F. Whiting|year=2002 |title=Mecoptera is paraphyletic: multiple genes and phylogeny of Mecoptera and Siphonaptera |journal=Zoologica Scripta |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=93–104 |url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118916123/abstract |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105095659/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118916123/abstract |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-05 |doi=10.1046/j.0300-3256.2001.00095.x |s2cid=56100681 }}</ref><ref name=WiegmannYates2012>{{cite book |last1=Wiegmann |first1=Brian |last2=Yeates |first2=David K. |title=The Evolutionary Biology of Flies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rElP5sNn6IYC&pg=PA5 |year=2012 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-50170-5 |page=5 |quote=Recently, a close affinity between Siphonaptera and Mecoptera has been convincingly demonstrated via morphology (Bilinski et al. 1998) and molecular data (Whiting 2002), rendering Mecoptera paraphyletic, but making the clade including Mecoptera and Siphonaptera monophyletic}}</ref> is not supported. A 2020 genetic study recovered Siphonaptera within Mecoptera, with strong support, as the sister group to [[Nannochoristidae]], a small, [[Relict (biology)|relictual]] group of mecopterans native to the Southern Hemisphere. Fleas and nannochoristids share several similarities with each other that are not shared with other mecopterans, including similar mouthparts as well as a similar sperm pump organisation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Tihelka|first1=Erik|last2=Giacomelli|first2=Mattia|last3=Huang|first3=Di-Ying|last4=Pisani|first4=Davide|last5=Donoghue|first5=Philip C. J.|last6=Cai|first6=Chen-Yang|date=2020-12-21|title=Fleas are parasitic scorpionflies|url=https://www.mapress.com/pe/article/view/palaeoentomology.3.6.16|journal=Palaeoentomology|language=en|volume=3|issue=6|pages=641–653–641–653|doi=10.11646/palaeoentomology.3.6.16|issn=2624-2834|hdl=1983/8d3c12c6-529c-4754-b59d-3abf88a32fc9|s2cid=234423213|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

Relationships of Siphonaptera per Tihelka et al. 2020.<ref name=":0" />

{{clade|{{clade 
   |1=[[Diptera]] (true flies) [[File:Common house fly, Musca domestica.jpg|70px]] 
   |2={{clade
      |1=[[Boreidae]] (snow scorpionflies, 30 spp.) [[File:Boreus hiemalis2 detail.jpg|85px]]
      |2={{clade
         |1={{clade
            |1=[[Nannochoristidae]] (southern scorpionflies, 8 spp.) <!--NC img http://v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=892130-->
            |2='''Siphonaptera''' (fleas, 2500 spp.) [[File:British Entomologycutted Plate114.png|50px]]
            }}
         |2=[[Pistillifera]] (scorpionflies, hangingflies, 400 [[Species|spp]].) [[File:Gunzesrieder Tal Insekt 3.jpg|90px]] 
         }}
      }}
   }}|label1=[[Antliophora]]}}