BY R. J. TILLYARD. 601 



Iii fixing the homologies of the veins in Merope, I had re- 

 course first of all to the trichiation. Merope, like all ar- 

 chaic types throughout the Complex (25), has macrotrichia upon 

 the main veins only, and not upon the cross-veins. It was thus 

 a very simple matter to prove that the cross-vein which I have 

 marked k (Text-fig. 61), and which Comstock considered to be 

 the basal piece of Ciij leading to its fusion with M, was in 

 truth a cross-vein, and not a portion of a main vein. Neither 

 this cross-vein, nor any other cross-vein near it, carries any 

 macrotrichia at all in Merope. ' Having settled this point, I 

 searched for the true cubital fork, and found it easily enough 

 quite close to the base of the wing, as shown in Text-fig. 62. 

 The position of this fork is indicated by Comstock (15, p. 304) 

 by the words "Immediately after Cu separates from 1st A," 

 which imply a basal fusion of Cu with 1A. Such a fusion does 

 not exist. The two veins are, of course, Cuj and Cu 2 , and 

 their point of separation is the cubital fork cuf. Further, in the 

 forewing, a strong bar falling very close up to this fork in- 

 dicates the position of M 5) which is here present, but in the 

 transverse stage already indicated as present in many Trichop- 

 tera (Section iii.). There is no fusion whatever between Cu 

 and 1 A ' in the forewing ; and the three anal veins are all pre- 

 sent, though 3A is much reduced, and was not noticed by Com- 

 stock . 



It will be seen that the condition of the venation at the bases 

 of the wings of Merope is the normal condition for the Order, 

 except only that the basal part of the wings is much narrowed, 

 and the three anal veins much reduced in consequence. All the 

 basal or primary dichotomies are present, very close to the base; 

 and the specialisations found in the hindwing, viz. the fusion of 

 Cuj with Mj_ 4 for a short distance, and the fusion of Cu 2 with 

 1A for a longer distance, are exactly paralleled in other genera. 

 In the specimen which I examined, the fusion of Cu 2 with 1A 

 in the hindwing was actually clearly shown by the presence of 

 a line dividing the two fused veins, as shown in Text-fig. 62; 

 so that there could be no doubt whatever as to the correct homo- 

 logies of these two veins. 



Since, then, the boundaries of 1A and Cu are those indicated 

 in Text-figs. 61, 62, it is abundantly clear that M 1—4 in Merope, 

 as in the forewing of Chorista and allies, has more than four 

 branches. In my specimen, these branches agree exactly with 



