GEOLOGICAL, DISTRIBUTION. 79 



the characters of the Neiiroptera and Hemiptera. It is gigan- 

 tic, spreading eight or nine inches ; its bod}^ must have meas- 

 ured six inclies in length. 



In tlie Mesozoic rocks, tlie celebrated Solenhofen locality in 

 Bavaria is rich in Liassic insect-remains. Dr. Hagen (Ento- 

 mologist's Annual, London, 1862) states that among the Solen- 

 hofen fossils the Neuroptera and Orthoptera are most largely 

 represented ; as out of four hundred and lifty species of insects, 

 one hundred and fifty are Neuroptera, of which one hundred 

 and thirty-six are Dragon-flies, and besides "there is a Gory- 

 clalus, one Chrysopa, a large Apochrysa^ and a beautiful 

 Nym2:)lies. The last two genera, which do not seem very remote 

 from- Chrysopa., are now found only in the Southern Hemi- 

 sphere, Nymplies is peculiarly an Australian genus." 



The Lias of England is very rich in fossil insects, especially 

 the Purbeck and Rhoetic Beds (see Brodie's Work on Fos- 

 sil Insects and also Westwood in the Geological Journal, etc. 

 Vol. X.). 



In the Trias, or New-Red Sandstone of the Connecticut 

 Valley, Professor Hitchcock has found numerous remains of 

 the larva of an aquatic insect. 



The insects of the Tertiary formation more closely resemble 

 those of the present day. The most celebrated European 

 locality is QEningen in Switzerland. 



According to Professor O. Heer, over five thousand specimens 

 of fossil insects have been found at CEningen, comprising 844 

 species, of which 518 are Coleopterous. From all Tertiary 

 Europe there are 1,322 species, as follows : 166 Hymenoptera, 

 18 Lepidoptera, 166 Diptera, 660 Coleoptera, 217 Hemiptera, 

 39 Orthoptera, and 56 Neuroptera, 



"If we inquire to what insect-fauna of the present period 

 the Tertiary fauna is most analogous, we shall be surprised to 

 find that most of the species belong to genera actually found in 

 the old and the new world. The insect-fauna of CEningen con- 

 tains 180 genera of this category, of which 114 belong to the 

 Coleoptera. Of these last, two (Dineutes and Caryborus) re- 

 main in Europe, while all the others are now found living both 

 in Europe and in America. The whole number of Coleopterous 

 genera furnished by CEningen, and known to me, amount to 



