NORTH AMERICAN NEUROPTERA. 327 



A KYXOPKIS, CATAI.OGITE, AI^D BIBI.IOGRAPH Y OF 

 THE IVEIJROPTEROII) ll^SEC'TS <>F TEM- 

 PERATE NORTH AMERICA. 



BY NATHAN BANKS. 



In the following pages the author has attempted to make a pre- 

 liminary compilation of our knowledge of the Neuropteroid insects 

 of the United States, in the form of a synopsis to the genera, a cata- 

 logue of the species, and a bibliography since Hagen's "Synopsis" 

 in 1861. In the catalogue I have given the synonymy that has been 

 noted since Hagen's "Synopsis." The progress of Entomology no 

 longer allows us to call these insects " Neuroptera," so I have used 

 the term " Neuropteroid" to indicate, as near as possible, their gen- 

 eral affinities. I have omitted the Mallophaga, partly because I 

 know little of the group personally, partly because Hagen did not 

 treat of them, and partly because they will usually be studied in 

 connection with other parasites, rather than with the insects that 

 occupy the following pages. 



I desire to thank Mr. Alex. D. MacGillivray for the help he has 

 given me, especially in the Ephemeridfe. 



When an Arthropod obtained wings a new life was opened to it, 

 and with this new life a myriad of possibilities. So, at the beginning 

 of the winged series of insects, one finds a large number of allied 

 types ; more or less related to each other, but differing in many im- 

 portant characters. These primitive insects, the forerunners of the 

 other winged orders, have been called Neuroptera. They are sepa- 

 rated by no good characters from Orthoptera, but with the latter 

 order they can be tolerably well se})arated from the other orders of 

 insects, viz., by their biting mouth-parts, the four many-veined meni- 

 brapous wings, and their soft bodies. 



As all definitions in Nature cannot be absolute, this, of course, 

 has plenty of exce])tions. In regard to the classification, I have 

 adopted that which will represent, as near as possible, what I under- 

 stand to be natural groups. Briefly, this classification is as follows: 



TBANS. AM. ENT. SOC. XIX. DECEMBEE, 1892. 



