268 A tmals of the South African Museum. 



co-ordinates the same to all the rest of the family, instead of the 

 single Selysian " Legions." 



The subordination of the genus CMorolestes to the Lestinae means 

 an innovation of considerable taxonomic importance. CMorolestes 

 figures to this day in the Selysian " Legion Podagrion " a group 

 not otherwise represented in the fauna under discussion. The 

 distinctive feature of Lestinae has been, to the present time, the origin 

 of M'3 and Rs* near the aiculus, as in most or all of the Caloptery- 

 gidae. With this character as a leading one, Chlorolestes would not 

 fall under the Lestinae, since the origins in question are (apparently 

 or truly, as it may be) in Chlorolestes in the nodal region, much like 

 the immense majority of Agrionidae. But Needham has already 

 ascertained that the proximal origin of -Rs in Lestes is not real but 

 apparent, the real Rs being marked by an oblique vein, whereas the 

 part proximal to that oblique vein is a " bridge " a very long one, but 

 otherwise corresponding in position to the bridge of Anisoptera. The 

 same oblique vein exists in Chlorolestes, as Mr. Herbeit Campion, of 

 London, has first suggested in his correspondence to the writer. The 

 same oblique vein also exists in the Australian genus Synlestes, the 

 only one which may be reasonably claimed as a very close ally to 

 Chlorolestes; and for Synlestes Mr. R. J. Tillyard has not only 

 discovered the existence of the important oblique vein, but also 

 ascertained the absolute coincidence of wing tracheation in ontogeny 

 with the facts illustrated for Lestes by Prof. Needham, besides other 

 Lestiue affinities in the Synlestes larva. With this evidence in view, 

 we believe there can be little doubt that the true position of Chloro- 

 lestes is with the Lestinae. The form of quadrilateral and Cu point 

 in the same direction, as does the general facies of Chlorolestes. Thus 

 even now, although our knowledge of tracheation and ontogeny in 

 zygopterous wings is still fragmentary, the removal of Chlorolestes 

 from the " Legion Podagrioii " to the Lestinae may be proposed with 

 a fair possibility of it being on right lines. The guides for the 

 systematic position and definition of Lestinae are now the oblique vein 

 and corresponding bridge, of which there is no evidence known to (he 

 author in all the rest of the Agrionidae. 



LESTES (Leach, 1815). 



The cosmopolitan genus is fairly represented in South Africa, and 

 a large number of species are described from the Ethiopian region. 



* Rs is here applied as generally accepted in terminology ; regarding the 

 real nature of this vein in Zygoptera, see p. 257 ante. 



