54 Prof. Schaum on the Systematic Position 



nexion with this : — " What characters has a Strepsipteron in 

 common with a Beetle ? Not one. What are the agreements in 

 their mode of life? The Strepsiptera live parasitically upon 

 Hymenoptera ; the larva? of the Meloidse feed upon honey : the 

 two consequently have nothing in common in their development. 

 In elementary books least of all should absurdities be passed off 

 as good coin." In his Report Dr. Gerstacker places the Strep- 

 siptera with the Neuroptera with perfect metamorphosis; and in 

 an elementary book, a recently published ' Handbuch der Zoo- 

 logie' (p. 78), he himself refers them to the Neuroptera as the 

 third tribe. 



Without taking any further notice of the tone which the 

 reporter thinks proper to adopt with regard to an opinion 

 entertained by distinguished entomologists (such as Burmeister 

 and Lacordaire), I hope, by a simple enunciation of the facts 

 upon which the decision of the question depends, to enable 

 every zoologist who may take an interest in the matter to form 

 an independent judgment upon the systematic position of the 

 Strepsiptera. 



The Strepsiptei'a undergo a complete metamorphosis ; and the 

 males possess buccal organs (mandibles, palpi) which are cer- 

 tainly rudimentary, because the imagines live only for a few 

 hours, but which are to be referred to the mandibulate type. 

 In both these particulars the Strepsiptera agree equally well 

 with the Coleoptera and with the Neuroptera. 



In the above-mentioned ' Handbook of Zoology ' the charac- 

 ters of the Neuroptera and Coleoptera are stated in the following 

 words : — 



Neuroptera (p. 68) : " with complete metamorphosis, biting 

 oral organs, free prothorax, and membranous fore and hind 

 wings." 



Coleoptera (p. 80) : " with complete metamorphosis, biting oral 

 organs, free, strongly developed prothorax, and hard horny fore 

 wings (wing-cases)." 



The sole distinction between the two orders is therefore, ac- 

 cording to this Handbook, that the Neuroptera have mem- 

 branous and the Coleoptera hard horny anterior wings ; for 

 the " free, strongly developed prothorax " of the Coleoptera can- 

 not be regarded as the opposite of the merely free prothorax of 

 the Neuroptera, among which such genera as Corydalis and 

 Mantispa possess a much more strongly developed prothorax 

 than many Coleopterous genera. 



A further physiological distinction between the two orders, 

 which is indeed connected with the membranous or horny nature 

 of the fore wings, but at the same time presupposes a totally 

 different musculature of the thorax, consists in the fact that the 



