PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



issued \&*y\jX,, s]?®i ^U ^^ 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Vol. 94 Washington: 1944 No, 3175 



A REVISION OF THE EMBIOPTERA, OR WEB-SPINNERS, 

 OF THE NEW WORLD 



By Edward S. Ross 



INTRODUCTION 



The present contribution is intended to be a summary of the sys- 

 tematics of the known Recent and Tertiary species of Embioptera 

 of North and South America. Although the writer has recently re- 

 vised the North American species (1940b), it seems desirable to include 

 them at this time in the light of new information and the need for 

 describing related new species. The current revision was initiated 

 by the discovery of many new species, as well as genera, in collections 

 sent to the writer for study, and by the availability of supplementary 

 data concerning certain poorly known old species. It is hoped that 

 this paper will attract the attention of field collectors and students to 

 this very interesting, but much neglected, order of insects. The extent 

 of this neglect can best be illustrated by the fact that this study, by 

 reference to only a few small collections, nearly doubles the number 

 of known American species. 



The 71 recognizable American species are distributed in 17 genera 

 and 6 families. Except for the genus Oligotoma (represented only 

 by 3 introduced species), all genera seem to be endemic to the New 

 World. The Embiidae apparently constitute the only family, except 

 possibly the Oligotomidae (genus Gynemhia Ross), represented by 

 endemic genera in both the Old and New World. At least two of 

 these genera {Emholyntha Davis and PararhagadocMr Davis) appear 



401 



