84 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 22, NO. 5, MAY, IQ2O 



ZORAPTERA NOT AN APTEROUS ORDER. 



BY A. N. CAUDELL, U. S. Bureau of Entomology. 



The discovery of a winged form of a supposedly apterous order 

 of insects is an event of importance in systematic entomology 

 certainly well worth recording. 



The discovery of alated specimens of Zorotypus was made by 

 Mr. H. S. Barber while collecting in Texas in the autumn of 1918. 

 This unusually keen collector of the smaller and rarer forms of 

 insect life was interested in the occurrence of /.orotypns within 

 our borders, and when on a trip to Texas took the opportunity 

 to see if specimens of this hitherto rare insect could be found in 

 that vState. Unexpectedly good results rewarded the search, for 

 on October 20th a colony of Zorotypus was located under the bark 

 of a log and, in addition to numerous specimens of the ordinary 

 apterous form, including various stages of both sexes, he secured 

 eight alated adult specimens, all females, five of which had lost 

 the wings, and three large nymphs with well developed wing- 

 pads. The value and intense interest of this find were imme- 

 diately apparent, and the material was generously transmitted 

 to me, as was also other material comprising dealated adult fe- 

 males collected later. These specimens, together with material 

 collected in Florida in the spring of 1919 by Barber, Snyder and 

 Wetmore form the basis of the present contribution to the knowl- 

 edge of the Zoraptera. 



Dr. G. C. Crampton, the able student of insect morphology, 

 spent a week in Washington studying the structural details of 

 these interesting insects. The results of his studies appear in a 

 paper on phylogeny which immediately follows this paper. The 

 discussion of the morphological details given by Dr. Crampton 

 supplements admirably the following general systematic discus- 

 sion. 



The study of comparatively abundant material of /.orotypus 

 comprising both winged and apterous specimens of two distinct 

 species, gives a fair knowledge of this most interesting group. 

 But future field observations and careful breeding will have to 

 solve the many unworked problems, including that of the biology 

 of the various forms. It is not even surely known if the life his- 

 tory is a simple one, or if there are different casts, similar to 

 Termites. However, it is assured that there are apterous as well 

 as fully winged adults and it is almost equally sure that there 

 are two forms of reproducing apterous individuals, and mayhap 

 more. We have in the recently described species '/.. hubbardt ] 

 the following types of individuals: 



1 Caudell, Can Knt. Vol. :>(). pp. :*7.">-.SXl (1918). 



