The rapidly changing landscape of insect phylogenetics

Insect phylogenetics is being profoundly changed by many innovations. Although rapid developments in genomics have center stage, key progress has been made in phenomics, field and museum science, digital databases and pipelines, analytical tools, and the culture of science. The importance of these methodological and cultural changes to the pace of inference of the hexapod Tree of Life is discussed. The innovations have the potential, when synthesized and mobilized in ways as yet unforeseen, to shine light on the million or more clades in insects, and infer their composition with confidence. There are many challenges to overcome before insects can enter the 'phylocognisant age', but because of the promise of genomics, phenomics, and informatics, that is now an imaginable future.