THE AFFINITIES OF EOMEROPE AND 
DINOPANORPA ( MECOPTERA) * 
By F. M. Carpenter 
Harvard University 
The two fossil Mecoptera discussed below were originally de- 
scribed by T. D. A. Cockerell many years ago. One of them, 
Eomerope tortriciformis , was obtained in the Oligocene shales at 
Florissant, Colorado; and the other, Dinopanorpa megarche , was 
collected in a Miocene deposit near the Amagu River in eastern 
Siberia. Study of the type specimens for the present paper was made 
possible by the courtesy of the authorities of the Peabody Museum 
at Yale University, for Eomerope , and of the U. S. National 
Museum, for Dinopanorpa. 
Eomerope was assigned by Cockerell (1909) to the mecopterous 
family Meropeidae, which, at that time, was a monotypic family, 
represented by Merope tuber Newman, a little-known species 
infrequently collected in the eastern part of the United States. 
However, a second species, Austromerope poultoni f from Western 
Australia, was described by Killington in 1933. These two genera, 
although having obvious differences in facies, are closely related, as 
indicated by the similar structure of the male genitalia. In his 
account of Eomerope , Cockerell made no reference to another 
mecopteron, Notiothauma reedi MacLachlan (1877), which occurs 
in part of Chile and which is the only known representative of the 
family Notiothaumidae. In all probability, Cockerell was not aware 
of this insect, since its existence was not generally made known until 
the publication of Esben-Petersen’s monograph of the Mecoptera 
in 1921. From my study of the type of Eomerope and comparisons 
with specimens of Menope and N otiothauma, I am convinced that 
Eomerope belongs to the family Notiothaumidae instead of the 
Meropeidae. The reasons for this conclusion are given below, follow- 
ing the account of the genus and species. 
Family Notiothaumidae Esben-Petersen 
Genus Eomerope Cockerell 
Eomerope Cockerell, 1909 , p. 381 
Wing venation as in N otiothauma but with fewer cross veins, the 
^Partial financial support of this research is acknowledged to the National 
Science Foundation (Grant no. GB 27333, F. M. Carpenter, Harvard Uni- 
versity, principal investigator). 
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