Vol. XXvi] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 349 



The Blattidae and Mantidae are classed as distinct orders 

 by certain recent investigators (Handlirsch, etc.) and very 

 rightly so, but the terms Blattoidea and Mantoidea, applied to 

 these orders, do not end in "-ptera," as they should do, for the 

 sake of uniformity. I would therefore substitute for "Blat- 

 toidea," the designation Palaeoptera (referring to the ancient 

 character of the wings), and for Mantoidea, I would substi- 

 tute the older designation Dictyoptera (used in the restricted 

 sense). 



The Hemimeridae are regarded by some investigators as 

 related to the Blattidae, but Verhoeff has correctly classed 

 them with the Dermaptera, and regards them as a suborder, 

 to which he applies the designation Dermodermaptera. The 

 Arixenidae are also to be regarded as aberrant Dermaptera, 

 and form a suborder which may be called the Plecodermaptera, 

 from their resemblance to the Plecoptera. 



SUMMARY. 



The principal points brought out in the foregoing discus- 

 sion may be briefly summarized as follows : 



1 i ) The thoracic structures of the Grylloblattidae present 

 a combination of characters found in the Dermaptera, Isop- 

 tera and Gryllidae. 



(2) The Grylloblattidae constitute a distinct order, the 

 Notoptera. 



(3) The Notoptera occupy a position intermediate between 

 the Dermaptera and Isoptera, and are the nearest living repre- 

 sentatives of the common ancestors of the Gryllidae and "Lo- 

 custidae" (Tettigonidae). 



(4) The Platyptera (Embiidae), Plecoptera, Notoptera and 

 Dermaptera are very closely related, and sprang from ances- 

 tors so similar that they would have been grouped in a single 

 family, or subfamily. 



(5) There are at least two (possibly more) centers about 

 which pterygote insects group themselves, namely, the Plecop- 

 tera and the Neuroptera. The ancestors of both probably 

 sprang from a common stock. 



