88 PALEONTOLOGY 



that even these early fossils already exhibit in the Aiioiuoehoristidte 

 a venation specialised by reduction. Among the Neuroptera are 

 foiind representatives of the existing Raphidiodea, in the genus 

 Permoraphidia. The SiaHodea are also met with in Marty novia 

 and Choristosialis. while the earliest known Planipennia appear 

 in Permoberotha. It is noteworthy that all these early Neuroptera 

 are comparatively highly specialised types. The curious beetle- 

 like Protelytroptera are confined to the various rocks of this 

 period, which also contain an abundant series of Megasecoptera. 

 In the same strata there also occur the earliest known true mayfly 

 (Protereisma) and a number of generalised Perlid-like forms which 

 constitute the order Protoperlaria. In the lower Rothliegende 

 of Birkenfeld. in Germany, there is to be found the remarkable 

 fossil EugereoH Dohrn., belonging to the order Protohemiptera. 

 It is noteworthy that the earliest undoubted fossil records of true 

 Hemiptera are of approximately the same age, and occur in the 

 Lower Permian of Kansas. They comprise Homoptera only, and 

 appear to indicate that both the divisions Sternorrhyncha and 

 Auchernorrhyncha were already clearly differentiated at that 

 period. True dragon-flies also appear in Lower Permian times, but 

 they differ sufficiently from living forms to form a separate sub- 

 order, the Protozygoptera. The remarkable genus Kennedya 

 is the most important type (Fig. 46, B), and it shows that in these 

 early dragon-flies the specialised discoidal cell and the sub-nodus 

 of recent forms were undeveloped and, at the same time, they 

 retained a vestige of vein Cu^ within the petiole of the wings 

 (Tillyard, 1925). The Psocoptera were also of great antiquity, and 

 recent researches (Tillyard, 1926c, 1928b, 1935b) have brought to 

 light examples of species which appear to represent two new and 

 extinct sub-orders- the Permopsocida and the Embiopsocida. In 

 the latter group is the genus Permemhia Till., which combines 

 apparent Embiid affinities with those of the Psocoptera. 



Coming to Upper Permian times, rocks of this age in Australia 

 and Northern Russia have disclosed abundant records of insect 

 life which have been the subject of recent studies by Tillyard 

 and by Martynov. In Australia the Belmont beds of New 

 South Wales have afforded further evidence of the existence of 



