Rev. P. B. Brodie—Eocene Tertiary Insects. 539 
but only one example of an Hymenopterous insect, an ant, is known 
earlier—from the Swiss Lias recorded by Heer. The insects in the 
Bembridge Limestone, as a rule, are lying on their backs, the in- 
terior of the body being exposed, and showing even the internal 
structure, in other words, the anatomy of the animal, and in one 
instance, even what appears to be the ovipositor, and in another the 
intestine, may be detected. It often happens that only a mould of 
the interior of the entire body of an insect is left, the soft parts 
having been entirely decomposed. The matrix is a more or less 
hard and somewhat peculiar limestone, with a very perverse and 
uneven fracture, and may have been deposited in a small lake under 
unusual conditions. The limestone is not laid down in regular 
lamin, as in many other Tertiary, and not unfrequently in earlier 
' formations, which in some respects is a better condition for the 
display of the Insecta; but at Gurnet Bay they lie often crowded 
together, and in all directions in the matrix, which is often angular 
and irregular in structure. Hence the remains are most difficult to 
work out and expose, though the minute parts are wonderfully 
preserved. Mr. A’Court Smith informs me that he has found several 
butterflies, generally ill-preserved, though I have one fine example 
retaining both wings and showing traces of colouring; but the body 
is much decomposed. I have also a Gryllus, apparently with 
attached wings, and a small Blatta. There are also numerous spiders, 
caterpillars, centipedes, and worms. 
In some respects the Bembridge Limestone is, lithologically, not 
unlike the Rhetic at Aust Cliff, containing some well preserved 
insects, though only at one particular spot. Most of these Tertiary 
Arthropods must have undergone a considerable amount of decomposi- 
tion and have been embedded with the lower portion of the body 
upwards, the very reverse of the ordinary preservation of most 
fossils of this class elsewhere. They appear to be confined to a 
very limited area, and so far are of local occurrence, for Mr. Starkie 
Gardner has stated that though he had carefully searched the 
equivalent beds in other parts of the island he had never met 
with them. This differs from the widespread range of Tertiary 
deposits in other parts of the world where, as in Colorado especially, 
there are several thin layers of fine-grained limestone which may 
be traced for many miles, more or less crowded with insect-remains 
in good preservation. The majority of these reliquie in the Isle 
of Wight are generally broken, crushed, and distorted, and the 
wings are not often attached; very different to those from Aix and 
other foreign Tertiaries. But the legs, antenne, and eyes, are not 
unfrequently preserved, and in some cases the beautiful iridescent 
colouring of the body and wings are occasionally retained. This is 
rarely so in more ancient deposits, though the wings of Brodiea in 
the Coal-measures near Dudley retain their colouring and in other 
examples in the same deposits at Commentry, in France, and also 
in America. 
Insect remains have only been recognized of late years in the 
British Tertiaries (though long known abroad) in any considerable 
