242 
Psyche 
[December 
Family Diaphanopteridae Handlirsch 
Diaphanopteridae Handlirsch, 1906, Foss. Ins. :3 1 3 
[— Diaphanopteritidae Handlirsch, 1919; Denks., Akad. Wiss. Wien, 96:65] 
Fore and hind wings similar; Sc terminating on Ri slightly beyond 
mid-wing; MA diverging away from MP immediately after its origin 
and just touching or very nearly touching Rs before continuing as an 
independent, convex vein ; CuA coalesced with the base of M. Several 
large, thickened, circular spots on membrane of both wings. Body 
Text figure 1. Diaphanoptera scudderi (Brongniart) , after Brongniart, 1893. 
structure little known ; thorax and abdomen combined about as long 
as wings; abdomen slender; cerci very long, about twice as long as 
wings. 
There seems to me no basis for accepting Handlirsch’s family 
Diaphanopteritidae, which was erected for Diaphanoptera superha 
Meunier. The diagnosis given by Handlirsch for the family is very 
vague and his interpretation of the venation of superha , based entirely 
on Meunier’s published photograph, is inaccurate. 
In addition to the Genus Diaphanoptera, which is now known only 
from the Commentry shales, the family Diaphanopteridae is represent- 
ed in the Upper Carboniferous strata of the Kuznetsk Basin (Asian 
RSFSR), Soviet Union, by Philiasptilon maculosum Zalessky (1931). 
Although only the distal half of a wing of this insect is known, its 
affinites with Diaphanoptera are obvious; two circular spots on the 
wing membrane correspond approximately in position to spots in 
Diaphanoptera. 
