The origin of insect wings is a biological mystery that has fascinated scientists for centuries. Identification of tissues homologous to insect wings from lineages outside of Insecta will provide pivotal information to resolve this conundrum. Here, through expression and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)–CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) functional analyses in Parhyale, we show that a gene network similar to the insect wing gene network (preWGN) operates both in the crustacean terga and in the proximal leg segments, suggesting that the evolution of a preWGN precedes the emergence of insect wings, and that from an evo-devo perspective, both of these tissues qualify as potential crustacean wing homologues. Combining these results with recent wing origin studies in insects, we discuss the possibility that both tissues are crustacean wing homologues, which supports a dual evolutionary origin of insect wings (that is, novelty through a merger of two distinct tissues). These outcomes have a crucial impact on the course of the intellectual battle between the two historically competing wing origin hypotheses.

昆虫翅膀的起源是一个生物学谜团，数百年来一直吸引着科学家。从昆虫纲外的血统鉴定与昆虫的翅膀同源的组织，将为解决这一难题提供关键信息。在这里，通过在Parhyale中表达和聚集规则间隔的短回文重复序列（CRISPR）– CRISPR相关蛋白9（Cas9）进行功能分析，我们显示了一个类似于昆虫翅膀基因网络（preWGN）的基因网络在甲壳纲和近端腿节中都起作用，这表明preWGN的进化先于昆虫翅膀的出现，并且是由昆虫进化而来。从发展的角度来看，这两个组织都可以作为潜在的甲壳纲动物的同系物。将这些结果与昆虫最近的翅膀起源研究相结合，我们讨论了两种组织都是甲壳纲动物翅膀同系物的可能性，这支持了昆虫翅膀的双重进化起源（即通过两个不同组织的合并而具有新颖性）。这些结果对两个历史上相互竞争的机翼起源假说之间的知识战过程具有至关重要的影响。