316 STUDIES IN AUSTRAIJAN NEUROPTEHA, iv., 



'Wings evenly rounded at tips; in the female, small, seed-like 

 scales present on the main \eins of tiie liindwinjf, over at 

 least tlie middle portions of M,, M„, and some of the 



hranches of Rs fipennoplior^lla, n.g.(Type, S. dhseminat((. n.sp). 



Foiewings subtriangular, with the outer margin excavated; 

 no seed-like scales on the main veins of tiie hindwing in 

 the female, but flattened, seed-like scales may l)e present 

 among tlie hairs of the posterior fringe 1. 



j Onlj' four to five branches of Rs Berotha Walker. 



• ' |^]<]ight l>ranches of Rs Ixosx-elifitcrnn A. Costa. 



I doubt whether Berotha and Imscpli])tron are really generic- 

 ally distinct. The relationship <^f Spprmophovella with these two 

 genei'a may well be open to question. They represent two, 

 isolated end-twigs of a veiy old stock, now nearl}' extinct, rathei- 

 than two, closely-related offshoots of a single stem. However, I 

 think that the agreement in venational scheme, the hairiness of 

 the wings, and, above all, the very remarkable development of 

 scaJps from some of the hairs of the wings, justifies us in placing 

 them together, in spite of some very obvious differences in form 

 of body and shape of wing. The excavate form of wing crops up 

 continually at diffei-ent places within the Neuroptera, as also in 

 the Lepifloptera, and should not l)e made a bar to the recognition 

 of closer affinities. 



With regard to the development of scales, McLachlan was the 

 first to discover them, in Jsosc:e/iptPi-on(6). He noticed that the 

 hairs of the fringe, on the posterior margin of the wings, appeared 

 to be very coarse and thick. On examining them with a lens, 

 he discovered that they were, in I'eality, somewhat flattened 

 scales, "like the seeds of certain Umbelliferous plants," but pro- 

 bably not striated. McLachlan further remarks that all the 

 specimens which he examined wei'e males, on account of their 

 long, caudate appendages I 



Now, in Spn'mophorel/a, it is the Jhna/e.<i which possess long, 

 caudate appendages, and they have apparentl}' some use in con- 

 nection with the process of ovipositing. I had myself taken the 

 females to be males at fii'st, owing to these appendages, and was 

 only convinced of my error when T kept the insects in glass- 



