TERTIARY INSECTS FROM ARGENTINA 



By T. D. A. COCKERELL 



Of the University of Colorado, Boulder 



Until recently no fossil insects were known from South America. 

 The first to be recorded were two Diptera in amber from Colombia, 

 unfortunately of uncertain age.' As early as 1917 Dr. G. R. Wieland 

 found two species in Upper Triassic (Rhaetic) rock at Minas de Pet- 

 roleo, southwest of Mendoza, Argentina. These he described and 

 figured in a recent paper- regarding them as new genera and species 

 of Tipulidae (Diptera). The smaller species is Dipterous but the 

 large one {Tipuloidea rhdetica) is in fact one of the Homoptera, with 

 the clavus missing, as is so often the case in fossils. In any case, 

 however, Doctor Wieland's discovery is of extraordinary interest, 

 and his well-illustrated account will remain one of the most impor- 

 tant contributions to paleoentomology. We now have to chronicle 

 a third find of South American fossil insects, made by G. L. Harring- 

 ton, of Buenos Aires. The material was kindly forwarded to me 

 by Dr. R. S. Bassler and belongs to the United States National 

 Museum. The locality is Sunchal in the Province of Jujuy, appar- 

 ently more than 500 miles north of Doctor Wieland's locality. The 

 rock is gray, and is known to be of Tertiary age. In appearance and 

 in the absence of compression of the specimens it is just like the 

 Oligocene insect-bearing rock at Gurnet Bay, Isle of Wight. ^ 



Fragments of numerous insects are present, but I have felt obliged 

 to restrict myself to the description of seven species of beetles (from 

 elytra) and one caddis-fly (from a wing). There can be no doubt 

 that extensive collecting would greatly increase the list of recogni- 

 zable species, and would presumably reveal forms of greater interest 

 and significance. The assemblage now recorded is unsatisfactory, 

 yet important as giving us a first idea of the Tertiary insect life of 

 the region. I should not venture to name the beetle elytra but for 



• Cockerell, Amcr. Journ. Sci., vol. 5, 1923, pp. 331-333. 



2 Wieland, Amer. Journ. Sci., vol. 9, 1925, pp. 21-28. 



3 Since this was written my wife and I have visited the Sunchal locality, and secured a large collection 

 of fossil insects. We also visited Doctor Wieland's locality near Mendoza, and found beautifully pre- 

 served Rhaetic plants, but no insects. 



No. 2602.— Proceedings U. S. National Museum. Vol. 68, Art. i 



53196—25 I 



