THE STRUCTURE AND RELATIONSHIPS OF 
S TEFA N OMIOP TERA GUTHORL 
( MIOMOPTERA- PALAEOMANTEIDAE ) 1 
By F. M. Carpenter 
Harvard University 
During the past 80 years the Upper Carboniferous strata of the 
Saar Basin in Germany have yielded many interesting and important 
insects. Most of these have been described by Dr. Paul Guthdrl of 
Bildstock (Saar) over a period of nearly thirty years, from 1934 
until his death in 1963. Among the last of the fossils which he 
described were two species belonging to the order Miomoptera — an 
extinct group which seems to have been related to the Protorthoptera 
and possibly to the Psocoptera. The order is known mainly from 
Permian deposits (Kukalova, 1963) but three species described by 
Guthorl have been found in the Upper Carboniferous beds of the 
Saar Basin. 2 One of these, Archaemioptera carbonaria Guthdrl, which 
was placed in a separate family ( Archaemiopteridae) , is distinguished 
by the oval shape of the hind wing and minor venational features. 
The other two species, Stefanomioptera hangar di (type-species of 
the genus) and S. ostertali, were described as having certain vena- 
tional structures (such as the origin of the media from the radial 
sector) which are not characteristic of the order and which would 
actually eliminate the insects from that taxon. Further study of the 
fossils seemed to me to be necessary, especially in view of their 
geological age. Both specimens were originally part of Dr. Guthdrl’s 
personal collection but were eventually located by Dr. Dora Wolan- 
sky in the Geologisches Institut der Universitat des Saarlandes. I 
am grateful to Dr. Wolansky and to Professor Dr. F. Firtion of 
the Institut for making possible my study of these two interesting 
fossils. 
For reason given below I am now convinced that the peculiarities 
which Guthdrl (attributed to the insects are not actually present in 
the specimens, that the species are typical Miomoptera and that the 
This research is aided by Grant No. GB 2038 from the National Science 
Foundation. 
2 Another species, Metropator pusillus Handlirsch, from the lower part of 
Pennsylvanian period (Upper Carboniferous) apparently belongs to this 
order. See Carpenter, 1965, p. 175. 
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