The Affinities of Eomerope and Dinopanorpa (Mecoptera)

The two ossil Mecoptera discussed below were originally described by T. D. A. Co.ckerell 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 or the present paper was made possible by the courtesy ot the authorities o the Peabody Museum at Yale University, tor Eomerope, and of the U. S. National Museum, for Dinopanorpa. Eomerope was assigned by Cockerell (19o.9) to the mecopterous family Meropeidae, which, at that time, was a monotypic tamily, represented by Merope tuber Newman, a little-known species infrequently collected in the eastern part o the United States. However, a second species, Austromerope poultoni, rom Western Australia, was described by Killington in I933. These two genera, although having obvious differences in acies, 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 (I877), which occurs in part of Chile and which is the only known representative of the t:amily Notiothaumidae. In all probability, Cockerell was not aware o( this insect, since its existence was not generally made knovn until the publication of Esben-Petersen’s monograph o the Mecoptera in I92I. From my study of the type of Eomerope and comparisons with specimens of Merope and Notiothauma, I am convinced that Eomerope belongs to the amily Notiothaumidae instead of the Meropeidae. The reasons or this conclusion are given below, following the account of the genus and species.