STUDIES ON NORTH AMERICAN CARBONIFEROUS 
INSECTS. 2. THE GENUS BRODIOPTERA , FROM THE 
MARITIME PROVINCES, CANADA* 
By F. M. Carpenter 
H arvard University 
Although few in number, the insects which have been found in the 
Upper Carboniferous strata of the Maritime Provinces of Canada are 
of exceptional interest. They occur in rocks which are well down in the 
Westphalian stage (Zone A) and are therefore only a little younger 
than the oldest insects known (Namurian). In 1957, Dr. M. J. 
Copeland of the Canada Department of Mines and Technical Surveys 
published an account of the arthropod fauna of the Upper Carbonifer- 
ous rocks of these provinces and included descriptions of two species 
of the genus Brodioptera, which he placed in the Order Megasecop- 
tera. Since Dr. Copeland’s descriptions and illustrations are inade- 
quate for our present needs of interpreting the relationships of these 
insects, I have found it necessary to make a study of this material. I 
am indebted to Dr. Copeland for arranging to have the type specimens 
loaned to me for this purpose. 
One of the species which Copeland placed in Brodioptera is a mem- 
ber of the Order Megascoptera, as thought by him, although its 
affinities within the group are different from those which he assumed ; 
the other species described in Brodioptera is not a megasecopteron at 
all but very clearly a member of the Order Palaeodictyoptera. 
Order Megasecoptera 
Family Brodiopteridae, new family 
Anterior margin of wing very nearly straight proximally; hind 
margin apparently nearly straight or only slightly curved ; the wing 
was almost certainly not petiolate, although the absence of the basal 
part of the hind margin permits the possibility of a slight narrowing 
in that region. Sc terminating on C, R 1 straight at the base of the 
wing, not arched proximally; MA free from Rs, and Cu and CuA 
free from MP ; one anal vein. Cross veins few and widely scattered. 
This family is probably more closely related to the Sphecopteridae 
and the Corydaloididae than to any other known families of the order. 
*This research has been aided by a grant (NSF-G14099) from the National 
Science Foundation. The previous part of this series was published in Psyche, 
67: 98-110, 1961. 
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