1882.] 59 [Scucder. 



veins which ultimately form at the edge a narrow fringe of approxi- 

 mated parallel veinlets. The wing is of considerable size, meas- 

 uring about 16 mm. in length and 6 mm. in breadth. It will be 

 fully described and figured on a future occasion under the name 

 of Phthanocoris occidentalis. This is the first hemipterous 

 insect discovered in this country in rocks older than the tertiaries. 

 Another discovery, just made by Prof. Arthur Lakes of the 

 Colorado School of Mines, is of an important deposit near Fair- 

 play, Colorado, which Mr. Lakes, in the first announcement -to me 

 of his good fortune, believed to be either upper carboniferous or 

 permian ; and Mr. Lesquereux, on examination of the plants found 

 there by Mr. Lakes, thinks unquestionably permian or upper car- 

 boniferous. The insects so far found consist of the upper wings 

 of three cockroaches and the hinder wing of one of them. Two 

 of the cockroaches belong to the Palaeoblattariae as I have de- 

 fined them, and both of these to the Blattinariae. One is an 

 Etoblattina or allied genus about the size of E. affinis (Gold.), 

 whose closer affinities have not yet been studied ; the other is 

 very interesting, belonging to a new type remarkable for its lean- 

 ing toward mesozoic • forms in two ways : its very small size, in 

 which it agrees altogether with the general meagreness of liassic 

 species ; and in the basal union, throughout nearly half the wing, 

 of the externomedian and scapular veins, showing a stronger affi- 

 nity to modern types in this respect than any other Palaeoblat- 

 tariae. The third cockroach is an even more remarkable form, if 

 the beds are really paleozoic, as claimed ; for it is of a distinct 

 mesozoic type, of the same size as the last mentioned, and not 

 only with no distinct externomedian vein, but with the anal veins 

 parallel to the margin and apparently impinging on the anal fur- 

 row, instead of striking the inner margin, as in all Palaeoblatta- 

 riae. It therefore does not belong to the Palaeoblattariae at all, 

 and if the beds are paleozoic, it is the first instance known of any 

 cockroach of the modern type in these ancient rocks, while over 

 sixty Palaeoblattariae are known. Paleoblattariae do occur in 

 small numbers in mesozoic rocks, though none are known above 

 the lias, so that I have been inclined to look on these rocks as 

 mesozoic ; and should still do so were it not that if they are pale- 

 ozoic the discovery here of this neoblattarian is more than parall- 

 eled by finding Phthanocoris in carboniferous rocks ; for until now 



