16S DE- A. D. IMMS ON 



only, thirty -nine being founded on male examples and three on female. From this it is 

 evident that in only 18 species, or 30 per cent, of the total number of known species, 

 have both sexes been described. Among the Embiidoe in particular, unless both sexes 

 happen to be taken in association with one another, it becomes a matter of great 

 difficulty afterwards to correlate a particular male with any particular female. Owing 

 to this cause, and also to the fact that both immature and mature winged examples are 

 frequently taken, a good deal of uncertainty exists at present with regard to several 

 species. The unsuspected discovery that, in at least four species, the males are 

 dimorphic, further' complicates matters. As additional species become known, these 

 difficulties are liable to result in the synonymy of the Embiidae becoming complexly 

 involved. It is therefore imperative, in my opinion, that entomologists should refrain 

 as far as possible from describing new species of Embiidse based upon one sex only. 



In the case of the males, the best and most constant characters are those afforded 

 by the structure of the two terminal segments of the abdomen. The gratitude of all 

 students of the Embiidae is due to Enderlein, who is the first investigator to attempt 

 systematically to study this region of the body. His recent .monograph (1912) for this 

 reason makes a most important advance in our knowledge of the group. 



Hitherto only four species of Embiidse have been recorded from India, and all 

 pertaining to the genus Oligotoma, Westw., viz. : — 



O. latreillii, Rambur, Hist. Nat. Neurop. 1812, p. 312. Bombay. 



O. michaeli, MacLachlan, Journ. Linn. Soc. Lond., Zool. vol. xiii. (1877) p. 383, 



pi. 21. figs. 1-3. Umballa and Calcutta. 

 O. bramina, Saussure, Mitt. Schweiz. Ent. Ges. ix. (1896) p. 352. Bombay. 

 O. saundersi, "Westwood, Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. vol. xvii. (1837) p. 373, pi. 2. 



figs. 2, 2 a-f. Jubbulpore, Calcutta, and Pusa. 



Whether these four names represent four separate and distinct species is extremely 

 doubtful. Enderlein (1912) regards O. bramina as being a synonym of O. michaeli, 

 while Krauss (1911) in his " Monographic der Embien " considers them to be two 

 species. On the other hand, Krauss regards 0. latreillii as being a synonym of 

 O. saundersi. 



Embia major is remarkable in being by far the largest species of Embiidae yet 

 discovered. 



The genus Embia, Latr., furthermore, has not previously been known to occur in any 

 part of the Oriental zoo-geographical region. In the bordering countries of the 

 Palsearctic region three species of the genus, however, are known to occur, viz. : — 



E. persica, MacLachlan, Journ. Linn. Soc. Lond., Zool. vol. xiii. (1877) p. 382. 



North Persia. 

 E. mauritanica, Lucas, Explor. Sci. Algerie, vol. iii. Neur., 1849, pp. 111-114, 



figs. 2a-2n. Syria. (Also recorded from Algeria, the Canary Isles, and 



British East Africa.) 

 E. tartara, Saussure, Mitt, Schweiz. Ent. Ges. ix. (1896) p. 352. Turkestan. 



