﻿114 
  Dr. 
  G. 
  C. 
  Crampton's 
  Notes 
  on 
  the 
  Ancestry 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  attention 
  to 
  the 
  resemblance 
  of 
  the 
  wings 
  of 
  the 
  Mecoptera 
  

   to 
  those 
  of 
  Lepidoptera, 
  and 
  Tillyard, 
  1918 
  (Ent. 
  News, 
  29, 
  

   p. 
  90), 
  states 
  that 
  " 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  five 
  genera 
  

   of 
  the 
  family 
  Micropterygidae 
  {s.l., 
  including 
  the 
  Erio- 
  

   craniidae) 
  is 
  that 
  I 
  find 
  them 
  all 
  to 
  be, 
  not 
  of 
  the 
  jugate 
  

   type 
  of 
  the 
  Hepialidae, 
  but 
  of 
  a 
  more 
  primitive 
  jugo- 
  

   frenate 
  type, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  wing-couphng 
  apparatus 
  closely 
  

   resembles 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Planipennia, 
  Megaloptera 
  and 
  

   Mecoptera." 
  Tillyard 
  has 
  also 
  called 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  

   resemblance 
  between 
  certain 
  AustraHan 
  Hepialid 
  Lepido- 
  

   ptera 
  and 
  the 
  Ithoniid 
  Neuroptera. 
  

  

  As 
  was 
  the 
  case 
  with 
  the 
  Diptera 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  extremely 
  

   difficult 
  to 
  determine 
  whether 
  their 
  line 
  of 
  development 
  

   branched 
  off 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Mecoptera 
  (to 
  which 
  they 
  

   are 
  so 
  closely 
  related) 
  or 
  whether 
  it 
  extends 
  parallel 
  to 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  Mecoptera 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  Neuroptera-Hke 
  ancestors 
  

   giving 
  rise 
  to 
  both 
  Mecoptera 
  and 
  Diptera, 
  so 
  with 
  the 
  

   Lepidoptera, 
  it 
  is 
  extremely 
  difficult 
  to 
  determine 
  whether 
  

   their 
  line 
  of 
  development 
  branches 
  off 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  

   Trichoptera 
  (to 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  extremely 
  closely 
  related), 
  

   or 
  extends 
  parallel 
  with 
  the 
  Trichopteron 
  fine 
  of 
  develop- 
  

   ment 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  Neuroptera-hke 
  ancestors 
  of 
  both 
  Lepido-- 
  

   ptera 
  and 
  Trichoptera. 
  This 
  much, 
  however, 
  is 
  true, 
  that 
  

   the 
  Neuroptera 
  have 
  departed 
  the 
  least 
  of 
  any 
  hving 
  

   insects 
  from 
  the 
  ancestral 
  condition 
  of 
  those 
  forms 
  giving 
  

   rise 
  to 
  the 
  lines 
  of 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  Mecoptera, 
  Tricho- 
  

   ptera, 
  Lepidoptera, 
  etc. 
  Packard, 
  1883 
  (^c), 
  would 
  derive 
  

   the 
  Lepidoptera 
  from 
  the 
  Diptera, 
  which 
  in 
  turn 
  are 
  derived 
  

   from 
  Trichoptera 
  and 
  these 
  from 
  Mecoptera, 
  thus 
  ultimately 
  

   deriving 
  them 
  all 
  from 
  a 
  common 
  stock 
  not 
  unhke 
  the 
  

   Mecoptera. 
  In 
  this 
  respect, 
  his 
  views 
  are 
  somewhat 
  hke 
  

   those 
  of 
  Handhrsch 
  {I.e.), 
  who 
  derives 
  the 
  Trichoptera, 
  

   Lepidoptera, 
  Diptera, 
  etc., 
  from 
  the 
  Mecopteron 
  stem, 
  

   which 
  he 
  traces 
  back 
  to 
  Megasecopterous 
  ancestors. 
  

   Lameere, 
  1908 
  (Ann. 
  Soc. 
  Ent. 
  Belgique, 
  52, 
  p. 
  139), 
  says, 
  

   " 
  I 
  am 
  completely 
  in 
  accord 
  with 
  Handhrsch 
  with 
  regard 
  

   to 
  the 
  composition 
  of 
  this 
  systematic 
  unity 
  (Handlirsch's 
  

   group 
  ' 
  Panorpoidea 
  ') 
  comprising 
  the 
  Mecoptera, 
  Tricho- 
  

   ptera, 
  Lepidoptera, 
  Siphonaptera 
  and 
  Diptera 
  " 
  (Lameere, 
  

   however, 
  uses 
  other 
  terms 
  for 
  these 
  orders), 
  and 
  " 
  I 
  con- 
  

   sider 
  with 
  Handhrsch, 
  that 
  this 
  first 
  group 
  of 
  the 
  Holo- 
  

   metabola 
  is 
  descended 
  from 
  the 
  Megasecoptera." 
  It 
  is 
  

   difficult 
  to 
  understand, 
  however, 
  why 
  neither 
  Handhrsch 
  

   nor 
  Lameere 
  include 
  the 
  Neuroptera 
  also 
  among 
  the 
  

  

  