1968] 
Carpenter and Richardson — Megasecoptera 
301 
Family Mischopteridae Handlirsch, 1906 
The wings of the adult mischopterids were alike in size, shape and 
venation; they were distinctly narrowed basally (text-figure 1); 
Ri extended to the apex of the wing, with Sc terminating just before 
the apex; Rs had three terminal branches; MA anastomosed for a 
very short distance with Rs, near the origin of the latter; CuA was 
independent of MP. The cross veins were regularly arranged and 
formed two or three definite rows along the outer margin of the 
wing. The prothorax was short and usually possessed strong lateral 
projections; the meso- and metathorax have short, stout spines (Plate 
26) ; the antennae were relatively short and stout basally, the number 
of segments unknown ; the fore legs were very short, the other two 
pairs of legs unknown. The abdomen was long and slender, terminat- 
ing in very long cerci, fully twice as long as the abdomen; the tergites 
had a series of short spines or projections along their posterior mar- 
gins. 
Mischoptera Brongniart 
Mischoptera Brongniart, 1894, Recherch. Hist. Ins. Foss. 293; Carpenter, 
1951, Journ. Paleont. 25: 340. 
This genus is known from ten adult specimens, representing a 
single species, in the Commentry Shales of France. 
Mischoptera douglassi, n. sp. 
Plate 24; Plate 25, figs. 4 & 5; Plate 27; Plate 28. 
Text-figure 2. 
This species is based on a single specimen of a nearly complete 
nymph with the following dimensions: length of body from head 
to the end of abdomen, 53 mm; width of abdomen at 6th segment, 
5 mm ; length of antennae, 4 mm. as preserved ; length of fore wing, 
13.5 mm; width, 3.5 mm. The specific characteristics of this insect 
are probably to be found in the nature and arrangement of spines on 
the thorax and on the abdominal terga and possibly in venational 
details. 
Holotype: No. 39 (obverse and reverse) in the collection of Mr. 
David Douglass, Western Springs, Illinois; it was found by Mr. 
Lincoln Douglass in a spoil heap of the abandoned Pit 6 of the 
Northern Illinois Coal Company, about on the Grundy-Will County 
line, Illinois. The specimen consists of the two counterparts; the 
one shown in Plate 24 is herein designated the obverse; the reverse 
is nearly as complete, lacking only the distal portion of one of the 
hind wings. As is usually the case with fossil insects, the specimen 
