Over 100 scientists from 16 countries have conclusively concluded that insects began life around 480 million years ago, and gained the ability to fly 80 million years into the future. This is one of the biggest questions scientists were unable to answer, but that is no longer the case today.
According to Director of CSIRO's Australian National Insect Collection, David Yeates, the first insects were similar to the silverfish we know today. Furthermore, he went on to claim that dragonflies and mayflies were the first insects to develop wings. This happened approximately 400 million years in the past.
"Our research shows that insects originated at the same time as the earliest land-based plants, about 480 million years ago," according to Yeates.
"These first insects were probably similar to today's silverfish.
"Then, about 400 million years ago, ancient ancestors of today's dragonflies and mayflies were the first to develop wings - giving them the ability to fly long before any other animal could do so."
