XXxii, '21] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 137 



vided we had all of the stages arranged before us, and knew 

 which features of resemblance were due to consanguinity, 

 and which to convergence or parallelism; but, in the present 

 state of our knowledge, no one is justified in using one set 

 of structures alone in tracing the evolution of the orders of 

 insects, and opinions based upon a study of the wing veins 

 alone are of no more value than those based upon the study 

 of any other one set of structures. 1 would, therefore, relegate 

 the evidence of the wing veins to a more subordinate position 

 than its votaries are willing to do, although I, too, fully appre- 

 ciate its value as corroborative evidence, which must be taken 

 into consideration (with that from an\ available source) if 

 we are to come to a correct conclusion concerning the origin 

 and interrelationships of the insectan orders. 



The venation of the wings of the Coleoptera and Hymenop- 

 tera is so greatly modified, that it is of little value in the study 

 of insect phylogeny, although it is of some value as corrobora- 

 tive evidence if taken in conjunction with that drawn from 

 the study of other features, such as the thoracic sclerites, ter- 

 minal abdominal structures, ontogenetic development, etc. 

 Taking their anatomy as a whole, the Hymenoptera show un- 

 doubted affinities with the Neuropteroid insects (I. e., the 

 Neuroptera, Mecoptera, Trichoptera, etc.) ; but they also pre- 

 sent certain points of similarity to the Psocoid insects such as 

 the Homoptera, Thysanoptera, Psocida, etc. The lines of 

 development of all of these forms apparently arose from 

 ancestors intermediate between the Zoraptera (with the 

 Isoptera) on the one side, and the Coleoptera (with the Der- 

 maptera) on the other much as a family of children inherit 

 traits from the father's side and from the mother's side as 

 well and I am inclined to consider that the Hymenoptera in- 

 herited their social tendencies from the side of the Zoraptera 

 (with the Isoptera), while their type of genitalia apparently 

 comes from the side of the Coleoptera (with the iVnnaptera ) . 

 The venation of the Hymenoptera would not run counter to 

 this view, and in fact, the fore wings of the Siricids are rather 

 suggestive of those of the Zoraptera in certain features, while 

 the hind wings of certain sawflies resemble the hind wings of 



