The Order Diaphanopterodea Handlirsch, 1919, is a small Paleozoic order of winged insects. For a long time, most of its species have been assigned to the order Megasecoptera. The position of the wings held backward along the abdomen at rest (Handlirsch, 1919, p. 575) is currently used to discriminate Diaphanopterodea from Megasecoptera (Carpenter, 1992). Although these Palaeoptera are frequently preserved with wings connected to the body, the wings resting position is not really suitable for ordinal diagnosis: isolated wings cannot be assigned, and taphonomic bias can render interpretations of wing disposal difficult. Here we redescribe Diaphanoptera munieri Brongniart, 1893, type-species of the Diaphanopteridae, and Diaphanoptera vetusta Brongniart, 1893. New diagnostic venation characters are established, some of which were already used for several others representatives of the order (Kukalová-Peck, 1974; Kukalová-Peck and Sinichenkova, 1992). The implications in the composition of the family and its relationships within the order are discussed.
