1967] 
MacLeod — Berothidae 
351 
many other important differences between Sphaeroberotha and Trich- 
oberotha. 
The foregoing analysis, which I regret has been unable to settle 
any question as to the position or validity of Sphaeroberotha , em- 
phasizes the great need for a better understanding of the detailed 
structure of a large segment of the species and genera of the 
Berothinae. 5 Future descriptive work must carefully re-evaluate the 
effectiveness of the taxonomic characters which have been used in the 
past and must make available the condition of characters whose im- 
portance has usually not been properly appreciated up until now. In 
particular, I feel that among the more important features for the 
characterization of valid genera are the structure of the male and 
female genitalia and of the internal, sperm-conducting and storage 
system of the female. Such details of the male as the degree of de- 
velopment of the gonarcus and gonocoxites and the basic form and 
length of the mediuncus and its terminal setae will probably be of 
great help in this attempt. In the female, the size and shape of the 
7th and 8th sternites, the degree of development of hypocaudae, the 
presence or absence of 9th gonapophyses, and, especially, the structural 
details of the copulatory bursa and spermatheca should also be care- 
fully evaluated. 
Literature Cited 
Kruger, L. 
1922. Berothidae. Beitrage zu einer Monographic der Neuropteren- 
Familie der Berothiden. Stett. Ent. Zeit. 83: 49-88. 
1923. Neuroptera succinica baltica. Die im baltischen Bernstein 
eingeschlossenen Neuropteren des westpreussischen Provinzial- 
Museums in Danzig. Stett. Ent. Zeit. 84: 62-92. 
Esben-Petersen, P. 
1917. Australian Neuroptera. Part III. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South 
Wales 42: 203-219. 
MacLeod, E. and P. Adams. 
1967. A review of the taxonomy and morphology of the Berothidae, 
with the description of a new subfamily from Chile (Neuroptera). 
Psyche 74: 237-265. 
Through the courtesy of Dr. O. S. Flint, the berothids of the Neuroptera 
collection of A. Alfieri, recently acquired by the U. S. National Museum, 
have been loaned to me for study. The collection contains specimens of 
Nodalla, including the holotype of N. aegyptiaca Navas, the type species 
of this genus. Preliminary study of these 1 specimens reveals the same basic 
pattern of wing venation and female genitalia as Sphaeroberotha and 
indicates a probable synonymy of these two taxa. This material will be 
described in a future paper of this series. 
