1867.1 



DAWSON — ON PALAEOZOIC INSECTS. 



203 



refers it to the group of Ephemerina (day-flies, shad-flies) among 

 the Neuroptera, and has named it HaplopMebium Barnedi. It 

 must have been a very large insect— seven inches in expanse of 

 wing— and. therefore, much exceeding any living species of its 

 group. When we consider that the larva} of such creatures inhabit 

 the water, and delight in muddy bottoms rich in vegetable matter, 

 we can easily understand that the swamps and creeks of carboni- 

 ferous Acadia, with its probably mild and equable climate, must 

 have been especially favorable to such creatures, and we can 

 imagine the larvae of these gigantic ephemeras swarming in the 

 deep black mud of the ponds in these swamps, and furnishing a 

 great part of the food of the fishes inhabiting them, while the 

 perfect insects emerging from the waters to enjoy their brief space 

 of aerial life, would flit in millions over the quiet waters and 

 through the dense thickets of the coal swamps. 



Mr. Scudder describas the species as follows:— 



Fig. 1. 



liippiip 



I 





ft&i Hi 



^S^lM 



(a) Profile of base of wing. 



" Haplophlebitjm Barnesii Scudder; (Fig. 1.)— This is 

 probably one of the ephemerina, though it differs very much 

 from any with which I am acquainted. The neuration is 

 exceedingly simple, and the intercostal spaces appear to be com- 

 pletely filled with minute reticulations without any cross-veins. 

 The narrowness of the wing is very peculiar for an Ephemeron. 

 The form of the wing and its reticulation remind me of the 

 Odonata, but the mode of venation is very different; yet there is 



