272 THE PANORPOID COMPLEX (Introduction), 



of all the Orders taken into consideration, necessary for an 

 author who would decide this problem. Having carefully read 

 through the whole of Handlirsch's work, I was at once struck 

 with his evident lack of specialised knowledge of the two Orders 

 most fundamental to the whole question, viz., the Triclioptera 

 and the Mecoptera. The characters of these two Orders are 

 reviewed very superficially in comparison with those of the 

 Lepidoptera and Diptera: in fact, the whole of their phylogeny 

 is decided within the limits of a single page of print. And, on 

 that one page, I find statements made which, as far as my know- 

 ledge of these Orders goes, are incorrect. Such, for example, is 

 the statement on p 1254, that the jugum appears in the Meco- 

 ptera as well as in the Lepidoptera, and that on p. 1253, that the 

 Mecoptera retain the archaic homonomous wings and archaic 

 mouth-parts. In my studies of the Mecoptera, I have found 

 that none of these statements are justified, and I shall have to 

 deal with them more fully in the part of this paper devoted to 

 that Order. 



We are thus faced with the situation of having to choose 

 between the limited outlook, but greater accuracy in detail, of 

 tlie solution offered us by the specialist in one Order, of whom I 

 take Meyrick as a conspicuous example, since he shows in a most 

 remarkable degree the combination of both these characteristics; 

 and the wider outlook, but occasional inaccuracy in detail, of the 

 solution offered us by the non-specialist, whose aim should be to 

 regard all the Orders coming under his review as equally entitled 

 to careful examination and consideration. 



It will he at once obvious, without any further argument, that 

 neither of these alternatives is entirely satisfactory. Before we 

 can deal satisfactorily with the phylogeny of a group of Orders, 

 we must attain, as far as possible, to the specialist's knowledge 

 in every one of them. Such knowledge, in the present advanced 

 state of Entomology, is unattainable within the lifetime of any 

 single man. We must, therefore, ask ourselves, firstly, whether 

 we may legitimately attack a problem of such magnitude, 

 equipped with anything less than the maximum of attainable 

 knowledge on all Orders; and, secondly, whethei-, if this first 



