302 



FOSSIL DRAGON-FLY IN WARWICKSHIRE. 



rangement of the nervures. It is well known that the in- 

 sects of this family present certain generic peculiarities in the 

 nervures at the base of the wings. In this respect the spe- 

 cimen before us exhibits characters most nearly allied to the 

 genus Mtshna, Fab., but approximating also to the structure 

 of Lihellula. These distinctions being more easily shown 

 by drawings than description, the reader is referred to the 

 figures, where the originals have all been carefully copied of 



Fossil wing of jEshna liassina. Strickland. 



the natural size. Fig. 11 shows the structure in the fossil 

 specimen ; fig. 12, in the recent Mskna grandis, and fig. 13, 



Wing of jEshna grandis . 



Wing of Lihellula depressa. 



in Lihellula depressa. The dimensions of the fossil are 

 about one-third greater than those of Mshna grandis, one 

 of the largest of our British species, its length being 2 inches 

 1 Oj lines, and its greatest breadth 8 J lines. 



It is proposed, for the sake of distinction, to denominate 

 this fossil insect JEtshna liassina. 



The specimen before us furnishes, I believe, the first ex- 

 ample of an insect of this family in so old a formation as the 

 lias. It is well known that Lihellulcd occur in the lithogra- 

 phic stone of Solenhofen,^ which belongs to the upper part 

 of the oolitic series, and is the lowest rock in which these 

 insects have hitherto been found. The present specimen is, 

 therefore, unquestionably of great geological interest, espe- 

 cially when we contrast its close afiinity to existing forms, 

 with the extraordinary saurian, piscine, and molluscous 

 structures which were its contemporaries. 



This specimen was found in the neighbourhood of Binton, 



See Delabeche, ' Geological Manual,' p. 345, &c. 



