Dinopanorpidae is a small family of extinct insects in the order Mecoptera (scorpionflies) that contains two genera and seven species. The name is a combination of the Greek deino meaning "terrible" or "monstrous" and "Panorpidae", the family to which Dinopanorpa (the type genus of this family) was first assigned. The family was first described in 1972 by paleoentomologist Dr. Frank Carpenter to encompass the genus Dinopanorpa described by Dr. Theodore D.A. Cockerell in 1924. As with all members of order Mecoptera, dinopanorpids possess an elongated rostrum and four elongated wings of nearly equal size, and uniquely a "R1" vein which almost reaches the apex of the wing. The elongated "R1" vein is a character not found in any other extant or extinct mecopterans.