100 ME. R. m'lACHLAN ON NEW FORMS, ETC., 



Dr. Packard's arrangement is founded on the idea that in 

 insects, as in all other divisions of the animal kingdom, there are 

 certain groups more elevated, others more " degraded," than the 

 rest. Acting upon this, he places the Hymenoptera as struc- 

 turally and psychically, if I may use the term, superior to all 

 other insects. Then follow Lepidoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, 

 Hemiptera, Orthoptera, and, last of all, the Neuroptera, in the 

 Linnean sense (but including Thysanura), an order which, ac- 

 cording to him, " mimics every suborder of insects," being 

 " comprehensive or synthetic types, combining the structure of 

 all the other suborders." I would here particularly call atten- 

 tion to the relative positions occupied by Lepidoptera and Tri- 

 choptera, the latter forming nearly the last division of JVeu- 

 roptera. I emphatically enter my protest against such a wide 

 separation of the two groups, considering, as I do, that, whatever 

 may be the condition of the Triclwptera with regard to others of 

 the Linnean groups of Neuroptera, their relationship to the Le- 

 pidoptera is close, and that an attempt to thus widely separate 

 them is an outrage on both. In metamorphosis the resemblance 

 is nearly complete, the fact of the pupal limbs not being en- 

 closed within a common integument not availing much when 

 their condition in certain micro- Lepidoptera is taken into con- 

 sideration: the possession of mandibles by the Trichopterous 

 nymph is not of much importance, inasmuch as these organs bear 

 no relationship to the aborted mandibles of the imago ; they 

 simply replace the acid or mechanical means by which a Lepi- 

 dopterous imago frees itself from its cocoon. The imago in 

 Lepidoptera is almost constantly furnished with scales on the 

 wings and body, scales of a peculiar nature, the analogues of 

 which are seen only in Lepisma ; but many Trichopterous insects 

 have, in the male, a modification of these scales in the form of 

 short inflated hairs, generally intermingled with ordinary hairs ; 

 and in some genera this tendency towards a scaly clothing is as 

 marked as is its absence in some Lepidoptera. The neural arrange- 

 ment is not at all incompatible with a close relationship ; nor are 

 the parts of the mouth, excepting the absence of a developed 

 haustellum ; yet many of the larger Trichoptera frequent flowers 

 for the purpose of extracting the nectar ; and though I am un- 

 able to say by what means this is effected, it seems probable 

 that it is done by prolongation, at will, of the upper portion of 

 the oesophagus into a sort of false haustellum. Perhaps the 



