| Noun | 1. | Dictyoptera - in some classifications replaced by the orders (here suborders) Blattodea (cockroaches) and Manteodea (mantids); in former classifications often subsumed under a much broader order Orthoptera animal order - the order of animals class Hexapoda, class Insecta, Hexapoda, Insecta - insects; about five-sixths of all known animal species dictyopterous insect - cockroaches and mantids Blattaria, Blattodea, suborder Blattaria, suborder Blattodea - cockroaches; in some classifications considered an order Manteodea, suborder Manteodea - mantises; in former classifications considered a suborder of Orthoptera |