1885.] 199 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF THE GEOMETRID GENUS 

 OPHTHALMOPRORA. 



BY ARTHUR G. BUTLER, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c. 



The following species was in a series of moths from Petropolis 

 (Eio Janeiro), recently presented to the British Museum collection 

 by Lord AValsingham. 



Ophtkalmophora bracteata, sp. n. 



Near to O. corinnaria,formosante, and hella, of the same drab colour, but 



differing from all three in the absence of the white internal border and more acutely 



produced apex of the primaries ; these wings have the costal border creamy-white, 



and the fringe silvery-white ; the secondaries are greyish-white towards the base of 



the costa ; the usual ocellus is large, black, with the centre of embossed silver and 



the iris of creamy-white ; the curved line which partly encircles it is like that of O. 



corinnaria, but more slender, and formed of detached dashes of tarnished silver ; 



there is no second ocellus as in that species and O. bellu, the fringe is white ; the 



body is grey, the thorax slightly brownish, the frons drab, the collar white ; the 



under-surface is of a pale greyish drab colour, the pectus pearly- whitish. 



Expanse of wings, 34 mm. 



Petropolis, E/io Janeiro (JST. Doer). 



British Museum : 



November 25th, 1884. 



ON THE RECENT DISCOVERY OF THE WING OF A COCKROACH 

 IN ROCKS BELONaiNa TO THE SILURIAN PERIOD. 



BY HERBERT QOSS, F.L.S. 



Up to December last the most ancient fossil insects known were 

 the six fragments of Neuroptera obtained by Mr. C. F. Hartt, from 

 the Devonian rocks of New Brunswick, w^hich were described by Mr. 

 Scudder, in vols, iv and v of the Geological Magazine, and referred to 

 by me in my paper " On the lusecta of the Devonian Period," in vol. 

 XV of this Magazine. 



In the paper just cited, I observed that the appearance of insects 

 on the earth was probably contemporaneous with that of land plants, 

 ' and as remains of this division of the vegetable kingdom had 

 been discovered iii rocks of the Silurian period, the existence of a 

 land flora ages before the date at which the Devonian insects lived 

 was proved ; and consequently that the probability of the first appear- 

 ance of insects at an earlier period than the Devonian might be 

 assumed. 



The recent discovery of the wdng of a cockroach in rocks of 



