Latreille, in his Genera Crustaceorum et Insectorum, Vol. 3. p. 199, after describing the genus Chauliodes belonging to the family Hemerobiidæ, observes, "Congenerica videntur insecta a Dom. Drury iconibus vivis expressa, tom. 1. Pl. 46. Fig. 2. 3." I have never seen the present species, but from the admirable accuracy of Moses Harris (by whom the figures were drawn) it is evident that the neuration of the wings of this species is identical with that of Myrmeleon, agreeing especially with the insect represented at Fig. 4. of this plate, and exhibiting the irregular longitudinal nerve below the subcostal nerve and the strong furcate nerve running along the middle of the wing; whilst, at the same time, the neuration is quite unlike that of Fig. 3. Hence I have no hesitation in placing this insect in the family Myrmeleonidæ. It however disagrees with the genera of which that family is composed, viz. Myrmeleon, Linn. (Myrmecoleon, Burm.) Ascalaphus, Fabr. and Nymphes, Leach, in having bipectinated antennæ, so that I have been compelled to establish a new genus for its reception. Can it be possible that, according to the not uncommon practice of the time, the specimen had been mended, and that pectinated antennæ had been substituted in the stead of the ordinary ones of a Myrmeleon?
CHAULIODES VIRGINIENSIS.
Plate [XLVI]. fig. 3.
Order: Neuroptera. Section: Filicornes. Family: Hemerobiidæ, Leach.
Genus. Chauliodes, Latreille. Hemerobius, Linn. Drury.
Chauliodes Virginiensis. Capite thoraceque nigris fulvo punctatis, alis latis hyalinis venis nigro punctatis. (Expans. Alar. 3 unc.)
Syn. Hemerobius Virginiensis, Drury, App. vol. 2.
Hemerobius pectinicornis, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1. 2. 911. 1.? Pal. Beauv. Ins. Afr. et Am. Neur. pl. 1. f. 2.?
Habitat: Virginia.
Head black, with a yellowish spot in the front, and another on the top. Eyes greyish, and shining like polished bell-metal. Antennæ pectinated or combed, and longer than the thorax. Ocelli three. Thorax black, with three small yellowish spots on the posterior part. Abdomen almost black at top, and underneath of a greyish yellow (as are all the legs), having two short setæ or tails at the extremity. Wings membranaceous and transparent; the nerves appearing, when viewed by a magnifier, to be black and white, like the quills of a porcupine. Inferior wings shorter than the superior.