Aptery

Aptery is the anatomical condition of an animal completely lacking any kind of wings.

Apterous is an adjective that means that the insect or organism is wingless and usually refers to a particular form of an insect that may have wings, or a wingless species in a group that typically has wings, e.g. many Orthoptera (grasshoppers and allies) and Hymenoptera (wasps).

In other cases, a particular form of an insect (but not all individuals) will be apterous, e.g. some Tetrigidae (pygmy grasshoppers).

Wingless animals which belong to or are phylogenetic descendants of winged taxa are said to be secondarily apterous.

5% of extant Pterygota are believed to be secondarily apterous, including entire orders, such as fleas and Notoptera.

Female velvet ants are an example of secondary aptery, as they belong to a taxon of winged insects, the superfamily Vespoidea . Furthermore, male velvet ants are fully winged.