﻿2 ARKIV FÖR ZOOLOGI. BAND 4. N:0 10. 



licosus Smeath. at Adi Ugri, ref ers it to the Diptera and con- 

 siders it to be most closely related to the Stethopathidce. 



The specimen in my possession was found at lake Sibayi 

 in Zululand, in the nest of Termes natalensis Hav., conse- 

 quently not very far from where Thaumatoxena Wasmanni was 

 discovered. It agrees entirely both with Silvestris' detailed 

 description of T. Andreini and Breddin & Börners' descrip- 

 tion of the male of T. Wasmanni, which indeed do not exhi- 

 bit any distinct differenoes. As the main difference Sil 

 VESTRi points out that T. Andreini is smaller, but tHen the 

 specimen described by Breddin & Börner as a probable ,^ 

 is also smaller than the female. 



Thns in my opinion there can be no doubt about the 

 identity of both species, T. Andreini being the male of T. 

 Wasmanni. 



As Breddin & Börners' drawings do not give any de- 

 tails of the mouthparts and Silvestris' are made from a 

 dried specimen I think that the following description and 

 drawings may be of some use to the purpose of homolog- 

 izing the mouthparts. 



Breddin & Börner sum up their opinion of the syste- 

 matic position of Thaumatoxena in the following way: »Mit 

 einem Rhynchoten haben wir es zweifellos zu th\in, da das 

 Fehlen der Cerci, die Lage und Gestalt der Maxillarstipites, 

 sowie der Bau der Fiihler es dieser Insectenordnung zuwei- 

 sen. Wären Cerci ausgebildet, so könnte man vielleicht ver- 

 sucht sein, es den Dipteren einzureihen, zu denen es aber 

 sicherlich nicht gehören känn. Das zweigliedrige Labium, 

 das gegenseitige Verhältniss von Clypeus und Labrum, die 

 Verwachsung des Pharynx (Larynx) mit dem Clypeus (das 

 Fehlen eines Tentoriums) die allgemeine Kopfform und die 

 Kopflage, das festchitinisierte Mentum (Gula) theilt Thauma- 

 toxena mit den Corixiden. ...» 



The absence of cerci however can scarcely be considered 

 as a conclusive proof that the insect is not a Dipteron. 



The shape of the antennse is, as already pointed out by 

 Silvestri (op. cit. p. 352) exactly the same as that of the 

 Stethopathidce, the second joint being bell-shaped and com- 

 pletely covering the first joint. 



The maxillary stipites might as well be interpreted as 

 maxillary palps as Silvestri does. 



