Vol. 77 
No. 2 
PSYCHE 
1970 
THE NEUROPTERA OF THE BALTIC AMBER. 
I. ASCALAPHIDAE, NYMPHIDAE, AND 
PSYCHOPSIDAE 1 
By Ellis G. MacLeod 2 
INTRODUCTION 
Along with the related Megaloptera and Raphidiodea, fossils 
representing the Neuroptera ( Planipennia) are known from the 
Permian of Russia (Martynova, 1962), Australia (Riek, 1953), 
and Kansas. 3 Several of these early fossils, such as those of the 
Palaemerobiidae and Permithonidae, have a decidedly modern aspect 
and by the mid-Mesozoic the living families Chrysopidae (Adams, 
1967), Nymphidae (Adams, 1958), and Psychopsidae were already 
in existence. Other than the Baltic amber, Tertiary deposits have 
yielded a disappointingly small number of Neuroptera. Among these 
the Chrysopidae are relatively the most numerous, although in fact 
they are actually represented by only a small number of fossils from 
the Florissant shales of Colorado and a few additional specimens 
from Europe. 
Both the Megaloptera and Raphidiodea are known from the 
Baltic amber (Hagen, 1856; Carpenter, 1956) from a very limited 
number of specimens, whereas the Neuroptera are much more corn- 
published with the aid of a grant from the Museum of Comparative 
Zoology at Harvard College and funds from NSF Grant GB-19922 (R. C. 
Rollins, Principal Investigator, Harvard University). 
Manuscript received by the editor, July 15, 1970. 
department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois. r 
The two insects described as planipennian Neuroptera from the Lower 
Permian of Kansas by Tillyard (1932, 1937) are now considered as having 
quite different affinities. One of them, Permobiella perspicua Tillyard, is 
now recognized as belonging to the Caloneurodea (Martynov, 1938a, 1938b; 
Carpenter, 1943a) ; and the other, Permoberotha villosa Tillyard has been 
assigned to the Glosselytrodea (Martynova, 1962), which is regarded by 
Carpenter (1964) and Sharov (1966) as closely related to the Neuroptera. 
The collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology do, however, con- 
tain a specimen from this deposit which I regard as a true neuropteran. 
147 
MAR 1 1 1971 
