PSYCHE. 



THE EPHEMERIDAE AND VENATION NOMENCLATURE. 



BV VERN'ON L. KELLOGG, STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIF. 



That consummation devoutly to be 

 wished, the agreement among entomol- 

 ogists on a rational nomenclature for 

 the veins of the wings of insects seems 

 to be a probabilitv of the near future. 

 Just at present one of the moot points 

 is presented by the wings of the Ephe- 

 meridae. * Redtenbacher in his elab- 

 orate studv of wing-venation chose, 

 rather unhappily it now seems, the 

 Ephemerid wing as type of the existing 

 generalized wing. In this wing, in 

 adtlition to the usually distinct and 

 easily recognized five principal longi- 

 tudinal veins (exclusive of the anal 

 veins), viz. : costa (marginal vein) sub- 

 costa, raclius, media and cubitus, there 

 are two other apparently equally im- 

 portant and fundamentally distinct 

 longitudinal veins, one lying between 

 radius and media, the other between 

 media and cubitus. These two veins 

 are called bv Redtenbacher IV and VI, 

 the alreadv named five being designated 

 by Jiim, beginning with costa, as I, II, 

 III, V, VII. Redtenbacher, believing 

 these veins to be incident to the racial 

 insect wing sought to find them .in 



* Redtenbacher, Josef., Vergleichende .Studien iiber das 

 Flugelgeader der Insecteu, .Ann. d. k. k. naturhistorischen 

 Hofmuseums. Wien, Bd. I. s. 153-232, t. IX-XX, 1SS6. 



all the orders of insects. * Comstock, 

 adopting in the main Redtenbacher's 

 nomenclature, explains the presence of 

 these two veins (IV and VI), naming 

 them pertin3ntly premidia and post- 

 media, ditlerently from Redtenbacher. 

 Professor Comstock pointed out that 

 the veins in question were wanting in 

 the wings of paleozoic insects, and 

 stated his belief that the veins have 

 been secondarily acquired among the 

 Mav-flies bv a straightening out of the 

 zigzag lines between two series of cells. 

 That is, they are essentially venae 

 spuriae. t Spuler, studying the on- 

 togeny of the lepidopterous wing found 

 no indication of the two veins, and 

 suggested a system of nomenclature 

 which omits any reference to veins IV 

 and W of Redtenbacher as independent 

 longitudinal veins. Spuler's conclu- 

 sions and system are accepted by % Dr. 



"'Comstock. J. H., Evolution and Taxonomy, in The 

 Wilder Quarter Century Book, pp. 37-114, figs, r-33, pi. 

 I-Ill, iSqj. 



t Spuler, A. , Zur Phylogenie und Ontogenie des FUigel- 

 geSders der Schmetterlinge. Zeilsch, f. ^\iss. Zoologie. Bd. 

 LIII. s. 597-646, t. XXV, XXVI. 



+ Packard, .\. S., On a Rational Nomenclature of the 

 Veins of Insects, especially those of Lepidoptera, Psyche, 

 May. 1895. 



