ADULT AND IMMATURE CALVERTIELLIDAE 
(INSECTA: PALAEODICTYOPTERA) FROM THE 
UPPER PALEOZOIC OF NEW MEXICO AND 
CZECHOSLOVAKIA* 
By JARMILA KUKALOVA-PECK AND STEWART B. PECK 
Departments of Geology and Biology, Carleton University 
Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada 
It is generally agreed that insects have been abundant since the 
Upper Paleozoic. However, occurrences of fossil insects in the 
Upper Carboniferous and Permian are quite rare, mainly because 
of the scarcity of deposition sites. Especially rare are localities 
that yield a diverse and well preserved assemblage sampling a large 
community. This is regrettable since the insects, through their 
enormous dispersal potential and rapid evolution, are well suited 
for paleobiogeographical studies, especially for comparisons on an 
intercontinental level. It is assumed that Paleozoic plants and 
insects coevolved through a close and mutual association, and that 
this interaction, on all levels of development, was of fundamental 
importance in directing evolutionary trends. Hence researches on 
fossil insects and plants complement each other and hold great 
potential for paleogeography, paleoclimatology and stratigraphy 
of the Upper Paleozoic, as well as for theoretical evolutionary 
studies in both groups. 
On the entire North American continent there are at present only 
two localities which have yielded a rich and diverse fossil insect 
fauna comparable to the best Paleozoic localities of Europe and 
Asia: Mazon Creek, Illinois (Middle Pennsylvanian deposits equal 
to Westphalian C-D of the European divisions), and Elmo, Kansas 
(Lower Permian deposits). Concerning potentially promising 
regions, the Upper Paleozoic strata of New Mexico have attracted 
the attention of specialists in the last decade through random dis- 
coveries of fossil insects (8 specimens from the Manzanita Moun- 
tains, SE of Albuquerque, and one specimen from Santa Fe Creek, 
Santa Fe). Those fossils suitable for description were treated by 
Carpenter (1970). Since the North American West is important 
in spanning the gap in paleobiogeographical knowledge of the 
* Manuscript received by the editor May 20, 1976. 
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