348 
Psyche 
[December 
these veins are united by a short crossvein. This opposing set of 
characters has been much used in the supraspecific taxonomy of the 
Berothidae, although there are several complicating features of this 
area of the wing which undermine the usefulness of this set as a 
taxonomic character. 
For example, there are many cases in which the approach of Sc 
and Rj is so close that the decision as to whether these veins are 
actually fused or not becomes arbitrary. A more subtle source of 
confusion arises from variations in the degree of obliquity of the cross- 
vein, so that in some cases an apparent fusion of Sc and Ri occurs 
when in reality these veins are quite separate. The ease with which 
this condition can mimic a fusion of these veins is further compounded 
by the fact that the true termination of Sc is often masked in the 
thickening and pigmentation of the adjacent pterostigma. In addi- 
tion to these complexities, this set of taxonomic characters is also 
often subjected to a high degree of individual variability. I feel, 
therefore, that the degree of fusion of these veins is of a. limited 
utility and that the use of this feature at the tribal level can prob- 
ably not be justified. On this basis, then, the genera Protobiella, 
Spermophorella, and Nodalla cannot be excluded from consideration 
in ascertaining the relationships of Sphaeroberotha. 
Costachillea has been considered to differ from Sphaeroberotha and 
Cycloberotha by the presence of an “internal radial vein” (i.e. the 
vein labeled b in Fig. i of the present paper) in these latter two 
genera, which is presumed to be lacking in Costachillea . 3 Here again 
3 Because of the rather far distal position of the basal piece of MA in 
many berothids, it might be considered that this vein is a true crossvein, 
the real basal piece having been lost with the close approximation of the 
stems of R and M. This possibility seems to be strengthened by the fact that 
in the fore wings of several genera (Trichoberotha and some species of 
Lomamyia show this especially well) there does seem to be an additional, 
more proximal vein between the nearly adjacnt bases of R and M at the 
level of the m-cu crossvein, which is the more usual location of the basal 
piece of MA in most other Neuroptera. 
I feel, however, that this more proximal crossvein is a secondary develop- 
ment in those genera where it is present and that the true basal piece of 
MA is really the more distal vein. My principal reason for this conclusion is 
that I am unable to find a second, more-proximal vein in the fore wings of 
such generalized berothids as Cyrenoberotha and Rhachiberotha, where the 
bases of R and M are rather widely separated and where such a vein, if 
present, should be easily seen. Again, in the even more generalized berothid 
relatives of the Neurorthidae and Dilaridae, where the relationships of the 
veins at the base of the fore wing are equally well made out, only a single 
vein is present between these longitudinal veins, which in the nallachiine 
