Vol. xxiv] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 7 



fodinae three branches in one wing and four in its opposite (in 

 ochraceus six) ; below, the media gives off three branches, the 

 first before the origin of the third upper branch, all leaving 

 the media at a much larger angle than the upper branches 

 {ochracetis is quite different here, but Hodotermes mossambi- 

 cus has the lower branches of the media practically as in P. 

 fodinae). The cubitus forks before the middle of the wing, 

 and its upper branch forks again, exactly as in H. ochraceus; 

 the anal also has a fork below and a little beyond the cubital 

 fork, as in ochraceus. 



The presence of the sub-costal (sub-marginal) vein, which 

 was supposed to separate Parotermes from Hodotermes, is not 

 diagnostic, this vein being present in true Hodotermes. It is 

 Parotermes, formerly considered a sub-genus of Hodotermes, 

 which has the sub-costa absent or rudimentary. According to 

 the diagrammatic figure of Hodotermes hrunneicornis given 

 by Redtenbacher and reproduced by Sharp, the media of that 

 insect has no inferior branches, and the cubitus is wholly un- 

 like that of our fossil; but hrunneicornis really belongs to a 

 different genus, Stolotermes. The indications are, then, that 

 Parotermes dift'ers little from Hodotermes, so that it may be a 

 matter of opinion whether it is really separable. At the pres- 

 ent day, Hodotermes is represented by five species in Africa, 

 three in Central Asia and three other dubious forms, Asiatic 

 and African. It therefore, in its occurrence at Florissant, 

 affords a case parallel to those of the Nemopterids and Ne- 

 mestrinids. 



Scudder described a large species from the Florissant shales 

 as Hodotermes (?) coloradensis. It is remarkable not only 

 for its large size, but the unusually long abdominal append- 

 ages, and the total absence of the sub-costal vein on all the 

 wings. It is therefore apparently not a true Hodotermes. I 

 have a very fine specimen (Florissant, Station 13, JV. P. Cock- 

 erell) which I have referred to Scudder's species, but on re- 

 viewing the subject I can only conclude that it is distinct, since 

 it has the sub-costal vein well developed, and the abdominal 



