188G.] 215 



Note on the synonymy of Perla virescentipennis, Blanchard. — This remarkable 

 species was first published by Blanchard in Gay's " Historia fisica y politica de Chile," 

 Zoologia, vol. vi, p. 99, the title-page of which bears the date 1851. Until recently 

 there was great difficulty in being able to consult this work, and even now the 

 number of copies of it in this country are very few ; but it is in the libraries of most 

 of the leading London scientific societies. It is thus not surprising that the numerous 

 Chilian insects described therein have often not been recognised in synonymy. 

 Amongst those I think is P. virescentipennis. I find the name nowhere quoted, but 

 believe I am correct in considering the insect identical with Stenoperla annulata, 

 Brauer, " Verb, zool.-bot. Ges. Wien," 1869, p. 17, and also with JDiamphipnoa 

 lichenalis, Gerstacker, " Festschrift Ges. nat. Freunde zu Berlin," 1873, pp. 62-64, 

 fig. 17. There are slight discrepancies in the various descriptions (I possess the insect 

 and its nymph), but of a nature liable to be occasioned by change of colour through 

 desiccation. The insect is not a Stenoperla, McLach., as restricted to the typical 

 species of that genus from New Zealand, and the genus Diamphipnoa should stand 

 for it thus : — Diamphipnoa virescentipennis, Blanchard, 1851 (1852 ?), = annulata, 

 Brauer, 1869, = lichenalis, Gerstacker, 1873. — R. McLachlan, Lewisham, London : 

 Dec. 28th, 1885. 



On the existence of "scales" on the icings of the Neuropterous genus Isocelipteron, 

 Costa. — I am not aware that up to the present time scales have been recorded as 

 existing in any genus of Neuroptera-Planipennia (or Megaloptera). They exist in 

 Jsocelipteron. I had never made a minute examination of /. fulvum, Costa 

 ( = Dasypteryx graeca. Stein), of south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor, but had 

 occasion to do so a few days ago. The conspicuous fringe of what look like coarse 

 black hairs near the base of the inner margin of the posterior-wings especially 

 attracted my attention, and even a pocket lens of moderate power shewed that this 

 fringe is composed of what may properly be called ' scales ' — short thick black hairs, 

 much dilated (or inflated), and pointed at either end, reminding one of the seeds of 

 certain umbelliferous plants. Microscopic examination seemed to prove that these 

 scales are somewhat flattened, but probably not striated. Moreover, I found that 

 similar scales, but smaller, stand erect on the neuration of the anal portion of the 

 anterior- wings, mixed with the ordinary long hairs, and less conspicuous. My three 

 examples of I. fulvum, are all males, as is proved by the long caudate appendages. 

 Having made this discovery, I directed attention to the only other species of the 

 genus at present in my collection, which I take to be /. flavicorne, Walker (United 

 States). In this species there is no fringe of scales, but semi-erect scales exist on the 

 under-side of the anterior- wings placed on the lower branch of the sector, and on the 

 two cubiti a little before the middle of the wing ; and there are similar scales, more 

 thickly placed and almost amounting to a fringe, on the upper-side of the base of the 

 sector in the posterior-wings ; the form of the scales is precisely similar to that seen in 

 I. fulvum. Of /. flavicorne I possess both sexes, and in the females I find no trace 

 of scales, which, therefore, are probably attributes of the male only. This discovery 

 has bearing on another matter. In the North American species the individuals 

 having the wings only slightly excised at the apex have been considered the females 

 (a point doubted by Brauer) of those with the wings strongly excised. My males 



