1969] 
Kukalova — Palaeodictyoptera 
197 
Spiloptilus ramondi (Brongniart) 
Figure 18 
Graphiptilus ramondi Brongniart, 1893 : 351, pi. 19, fig. 14. 
Spiloptilus ramondi, Handlirsch, 1906: 102, pi. 11, fig. 14. 
This species is based upon specimen 19-14, which is a badly pre- 
served fore wing, lacking the base and the anterior margin. The 
venation is not clearly visible, but can be determined to some extent 
with the use of glycerin. 
Fore wing: length 60 mm, widest at the end of the first quarter; 
posterior margin slightly undulated ; apical part abruptly narrowed ; 
Rs with five branches, which may be forked; MA occupying a large 
area, forked about five times; MP with a series of three branches; 
CuA with four branches, CuP forked twice; anal area relatively 
small, with about five branches, mostly forked. Cross veins equally 
distributed. 
Genus Lamproptilia Brongniart 
Lamproptilia Brongniart, 1885 : 63; Brauer, 1886: 109; Handlirsch, 1906: 
110; Handlirsch, 1919: 21; Laurentiaux, 1953: 422. 
Type species: Lamproptilia grandeuryi Brongniart, 1885 (OD). 
In his 1893 monograph, Brongniart added a second species, stirrupi, 
and established for the two species a separate subfamily which he 
termed the “Lamproptilida.” Handlirsch (1906) raised this to 
family level on the basis of the very broad hind wings. Although 
this family has been accepted by subsequent workers, its close re- 
lationship to the Spilapteridae has frequently been noted. Since the 
body parts of Lamproptilia are unknown, we can base our conclusions 
only on the wing structure, which does not show any features justify- 
ing assignment to a separate family. Such characteristics as the broad 
hind wings occur in some other spilapterids in which the wings are 
even broader, and the form of the posterior margin of the hind wing 
as well as the color pattern of the wings falls well within the range 
of variation within the family Spilapteridae. 
The species which Brongniart described as stirrupi is undoubtedly 
a spilapterid but it does not show enough of the venation to enable 
generic assignment; it is herein placed within the spilapterids, but 
without generic position. 
The following are the characteristics which are suggested for the 
genus Lamproptilia. Wings: membrane dark, with a complicated 
color pattern, concentrated mainly in the distal half; cuticular 
thickening absent; wings subequal, the hind pair shorter than the 
front pair. Fore wing noticeably short and broad, the hind wing with 
