162 



parison of them with those of England, Dr. Hagen has drawn 

 two conclusions, viz. : — Firsfh/, That the two fauna are extremely 

 closely aUied, and that possibly some species occur in both 

 formations. Secmdlj/, That the fauna of the English and 

 Bavarian strata are not only quite distinct from the existing 

 fauna, but also from those of Aix, of the Rhenish peat deposit, 

 Brown Coal of the Rhine, of (Eningen and Radoboj, and from 

 that of Amber, diflfering not only in species but in genera. 



Lias. 



From the lower marls of the Lias, at Schambelen, in the 

 Canton of Aagan, in Switzerland, about 2,000 specimens of fossil 

 insects, comprising 143 species, have been obtained by Professor 

 Heer. With the exception of one insect from the Carboniferous 

 system, and five from the Trias, these are the most ancient 

 insects of Switzerland. Dr. Heer considers that Schambelen is 

 the only locality on the Continent in which so large a number of 

 primaeval insects have been preserved to our time. The 143 

 species are distributed as follows : — 



Coleoptera 110 species. 



Orthoptera ... ... ... 7 ,, 



Neuroptera ... ... ... 7 ,, 



Hemiptera ... ... ... 12 ,, 



Hymenoptera ... ... .■ 1 ,, 



143 



No Lepidoptera or Diptera have as yet been discovered, and 

 the Hymenoptera are represented only by a single small wing. 

 The abundance of the Coleoptera may be due to the circumstance 

 of their hard elytra having been better adapted for preservation, 

 than the soft wings of most other insects ; but as the deUcate 

 membranou.s Avings of tlie Termites have been preserved, there 

 can be but little doubt that if the Dipdera and Lepidoptera had 

 existed at this period, some traces of them would luive been dis- 

 covered. In this deposit the order Coleoptera, is rejnesented by 

 more than four times as many si^ecies as all the other orders put 

 together. Tlie species are referable to some sixteen families. 



