bS 



MKMOIKS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Suborder I.— LEPIDOPTERA LACIMATA or I'ROTOLEPinoPTERA. 



TTtX.p 



"The taxoiiomic importance of Walter's most i!itc're.stiii<;' discovery, tluit Erioccphntu vdlthdla 

 has inaxilhe constructed on tbe type of tbose of biting or mandibulate insects, i. e.. Mitli an inner 

 (galea) and outer lobe (lacinia) besides tlio ])aliii (fig. 2), w;is ai)i)!irently overlooked by liim as 

 well as others, tliough its bearings on tbe i)liyli>geny of Tbe Lepidoptera, insisted on by \V;dter. are, 

 it seems to us, of tbe highest interest. The presence of two maxillary lobes, homologous with the 

 galea and lacinia of the ]\Iecoptera (Panorpida') and Xeuioi)tera (Corydalus, ]\Iym('le()n. as well 

 as the lower onlers, Dermapteru, Orthoptera, (!oleoptera, etc.j in what in other important respects 

 also is the ''lowest" or most primitive genus of Lepidoptera, the lacinia being a rudimental, 

 scarcely functional, haustellum or tongue, and not merely a vestigial structure, is of great 

 signiticance from a i)hylogenetiu point of \ iew, besides affording a basis for <a 

 division of the Lepidoi)tera into two grand divisions or suborders, for which 

 we would propose the names Lepidoptera laciniatn and Lepidoplcra liansirUala. 

 Walter thus writes of the first i)air of maxilhe: 



The otlier iiioiith jiarts .ilso of tlu' lower AlicroiitrrygiiKi' have a most pi'iiiiitivc char- 

 acteristic. In the fust pair of maxilla' of Micfojili'i'i/x calthdlu, iiruiicella, aiideracliiUa, au<l 

 aureahlla, cardo and stipes are present as two clearly separate i)iece8. The former ju M. 

 calthella and aruncella, in comparison with the latter, is larger than in anclcrschella and 

 uiireatilhi. In the last two species the cardo is still tolerably liroad, hut reduced. The stipes 

 is considerably longer than the cardo in the last two sjiecies, while it is of the same thickness. 

 From the stipes arises the large six-jointed pal]ins maxillaris, making two or three bends 

 and concealing the entire front of the head and all the month parts. At its base, and this 

 is uni(]ue among all tUe Lepidoptera, two entirely separate maxillary lobes arise from tlie 

 stipes. The external represents the most primitive rudiment' (anlage) of a lejiidoptcroiis 

 tongue. (Fig. 2.) 



It is evident from Walter's figures and description th:if this strn(;ture is not 

 a case of reduction by disuse, but that it represents the primitive condition of 

 this lobe, the galea of the maxilla, and this is confirmed by the ])resence of the 

 lacinia, a lobe of the maxilla not known to exist iu any other adult lepidopterous 

 insect, it being the two galeae which become elongated, united, and highly 

 specialized to form the so-called tongue, haustellum, or glossa of all Lepidoptera 

 above the Eriocei)halida', which we nmy therefore regard as the tyjies of the 

 Lepidoptera Inciniata.'- 



Auother most important feature correlated with this, and not known to exist 

 in Lepidoptera haustellata, is the presence of two lobes of the second maxilhv, besides the three- 

 jointed labial palpi, and which corres])ond to the viahi exterior and maJa interior of tlie second 

 maxillaj of Dermaptera, Orthoptera, I'latyptera, I'erlida-, Termitida-, and Odonata, and also, as 

 Walter states, to the ligula and paraglossa^ of Hymeuoptera. In this respect the liiciniate 

 Lepidoptera are more generalized in.sects than the Trichojitera or Mecoi)tera. 



Walter thus describes the two lobes or outer and inner mahi of the second maxilla-: 



Within and at the base of the labial p.alpi is a pair of cliitinous leaves ))rovideil witli stiff bristles, being the 

 external second lobi\s of theunderlip, formed by the consolidation of the second i)air of maxilhe anil which reach when 

 -extended to about the second third of the length of the second palpal joint. Its inner edge is directly connected with 

 the inner lobe (mala interna). The latterare coalesced into a short wide tube which, by the gri'ater size of the hinder 

 •wall, opens externally on the point, also appearing as if at the same time cut off obliijuely from within outward. 



FlO. 2.— Maxilla of 

 Eriocephala calthella; 

 I, lacinia; g. galea; 

 vix.p, maxillary pal- 

 pus; sty stiiics; c, 

 cardo After Walter. 



' In accordance ■with an English author, I think, but whose name escapes me, I use the term rudiment in the 

 sense of the Germtin word Anlage, and vestige for an organ which has or is undergoing reduction, degcneratiim, or 

 atrophy. I am aware that the word Anlage has no English etiuivalent, but can scarcely accept the word 

 "fundament" as better than rudiment. We may, then, speak of germs or rudiments, and of rudimentary when 

 referring to the incipient organs of the young or adult, regarding vestigial organs as those on the jioiut of atrojihy 

 from disuse. The term blast for Anlage I should accept for embryonic structures in their incii>ient or germinal 

 condition. 



- In his paper on the larva of Eriocephala, etc. (Trans. lOut. Soc. London, 1891, ji. :«.">), Dr. Chapman sejiarates 

 the old genus Microptcryx into two families: KnocepliulUhv and Mkroplcri/iiidir. His group i:riocei>halid;e I have 

 regarded as comprising the type of the suborder Lepidupiera hiriiiiata or PruldlepidopUra. 



