Which order is represented by the ice insects that are slender, wingless, with long filiform antennae and sword-shaped ovipositors?

• A. Grylloblattodea
• B. Plecoptera
• C. Dermaptera
• D. Blattodea

Answer: (A)

The described traits point to Grylloblattodea, the ice insects. They are a slender, wingless group with long, threadlike antennae, perfectly matching the image of an organism adapted to cold environments. A distinctive feature in females is a sword-shaped ovipositor, which is a strong identifying characteristic of this order and helps eggs be laid in protected crevices in subzero habitats.

Other orders don’t fit this combination. Stoneflies (Plecoptera) have aquatic nymphs and two long cerci at the end of the abdomen, not a sword-shaped ovipositor. Earwigs (Dermaptera) have pincers (forceps) at the rear, and cockroaches/termites (Blattodea) have different body plan and reproductive structures, with no association to the sword-like ovipositor and cold-air niche that defines these ice-loving insects.