PROCEEDINGS, 1917 27 



the remains of true Teremitidae apparently exist in the Lias in Europe, 

 but further back than this the history is not traceable satisfactorily. 

 They are not now supposed to have existed in the Carboniferous strata. 



Some of the extinct Neuroptera of palaeozoic times were insects of 

 large size, surpassing considerably in this respect any of those now 

 known. Some possessed abdominal tracheal gills comparable to those 

 found in the immature condition of the present day Ephemeridae and 

 analogous to those of the adult of Pteronarcys. Further, some had 

 wing-like expansions on the prothorax. 



Thysanoptera. Tertiary epoch of Europe and North America. 



Buprestidae. Remarkably rich in fossils. Twenty-eight per cent, 

 of fossil beetles of the Mesozoic period found by Heer in Switzerland 

 are referred to the Buprestidae. 



Diptera. A considerable variety of forms have been found in amber 

 and many in the Tertiary beds. A very few numbers of the Cyclorrha- 

 phous sections are, however, found among them. Tipulidae are richly 

 represented. In the Mesozoic epoch the order is found as early as the 

 Lias, the forms being exclusively Orthorrhaphous, both Nematocera and 

 Brachycera being represented. All are referred to existing families. 

 No evidence has been found tending to connect the Diptera with other 

 orders. No Palaeozoic Diptera are known. 



Hemiptera. Several Palaeozoic fossils have been found but their 

 identity has been disputed. Eugereon bockingi belongs to the Permian 

 strata. Facts show that the Homoptera appeared before the Heteroptera 

 and date as far back as the Carboniferous period. 



Ants. They are among the earliest of the Hymenoptera. Remains 

 referred to the family have been found in the Lias of Switzerland and 

 in the English Purbecks. In Tertiary times Formicidae appear to have 

 been the most abundant of all insects. At Florissant they occur in 

 thousands and form in individuals about one-fourth of all the insects 

 found there. They have also been met with in large numbers in the 

 European Tertiaries, and Mayr studied no less than 1500 specimens 

 found in amber. 



Oestridae and other parasites (Mallophaga). Although in many 

 cases the rocks have yielded us no direct information regarding such 

 highly specialized parasitic insects as the warble flies of oxen and deer, 

 we may be assured that they only became differentiated during those 

 later stages of the Kainozoic period which witnessed the evolution of 

 their respective mammalian hosts. Carpenter (7, p. 108) states that 

 "some instructive hints as to differences in the rate of change among 

 different insect groups may be drawn from the study of parasites." For 

 example, V. L. Kellog (10) points out that an identical species of the 



