STUDIES ON CARBONIFEROUS INSECTS FROM 
COMMENTRY, FRANCE: PART V. 
THE GENUS DIAPHANOPTERA AND THE ORDER 
DIAPHANOPTERODEA 
By F. M. Carpenter 
Harvard University 
This is the fifth in a series of studies based on the Carboniferous 
insects from the Commentry Basin, France. 1 It consists of an analysis 
of the genus Diaphanoptera Brongniart and a discussion of the Order 
Diaphanopterodea, which was erected by Handlirsch in 1919 to receive 
the genus. In more recent years, there have been described other Car- 
boniferous and Permian genera which, although previously placed in 
the Order Megasecoptera, now appear to belong to the Diaphanop- 
terodea. This group of insects, apparently having a combination of 
palaeopterous and neopterous characteristics, presents one of the most 
intriguing and puzzling problems in the geological history of the 
insects. Our unsatisfactory knowledge of the Commentry fossils has 
added to the difficulties. 
Survey of Commentry Species 
Diaphanoptera was established by Brongniart in 1893 to include 
two species, D. munieri Brongniart and D. vetusta Brongniart, both 
from the Commentry shales. The specimen of one (munieri) consists 
of a complete wing, and of the other (vetusta), of the apical half of a 
wing. The genus was placed by Brongniart in the group of fossils he 
termed the “Megasecopterida”, including Aspidothorax , Sphecoptera, 
Psilothorax, etc. In the same publication, Brongniart described a fossil, 
consisting of a whole but poorly preserved specimen with very long 
cerci, as Anthracothremma scudderi, placing it in another “family”, 
the “Protephemerides”, along with Triplosoba and Homaloneura. In 
his 1906 treatise, Handlirsch followed Brongniart’s treatment of 
Diaphanoptera, but he removed scudderi from Anthracothremma, 
placing it in a new genus, Pseudanthracothremma, which he allocated 
to an incertae sedis category, the ordinal position being uncertain. 
This research has been aided by a grant (NSF-G14099) from the National 
Science Foundation and by a previous grant from the Penrose Fund of the 
American Philosophical Society (1938). I am indebted to the authorities of 
the Laboratoire de Paleontologie of the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle 
in Paris for placing at my disposal the unique collections of Commentry insects 
in the Museum, in 1938, 1961, and 1963; and to the authorities of the British 
Museum (Natural History) for allowing me to examine the Commentry fossils 
in that institution. The previous paper in this series was published in Psyche, 
vol. 70. pp. 120-128, 1963. 
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