F. M. Carpenter.
The Baltic Amber Snake-flies (Neuroptera).
Psyche 63(3):77-81, 1956.

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PSYCHE
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Vol. 63 September, 1956 No. 3
THE BALTIC AMBER SNAKE-FLIES (NEUROPTERA) Harvard University
The snake-flies, comprising the neuropterous suborder Raphidiodea, have had a long geological record. Like the scorpion-flies (Mecoptera), they appear to have been more extensively represented generically and specifically in pre- vious geological periods than at present. They have been described from the Permian of Kansas and Russia (Carpen- ter, 1943; Martynova, 1952), the Jurassic of Turkestan (Martynov, 1925 ; Martynova, 1947), the Miocene of Color- ado (Carpenter, 1936), and the Oligocene of the Baltic amber.
For some reason, they are exceedingly rare in the amber. Only one species has been reported in the literature up to the present time; this is Hagen's Raphidia (Inocellia) eri-
gena, which was described just about a century ago (1854). My own efforts to secure amber snake-flies, extending over two decades, have yielded but four specimens. Since I have had these at hand for several years and especially since I have little hope of obtaining additional specimens in the near future, I am presenting here an account of this small collection.
Three species are represented by this new material: one of these is Hagen's erigena, which turns out to belong to FWa; another is a new species of Raphidia, and the third is a very peculiar species, which I am assigning to Inocellia. Published with the aid of a grant from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College.
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Psyche
[September
Family Raphidiidae
Genus Raphidm Linn.
This genus is now restricted, as far as is known, to the Old World, but it is well represented in Miocene deposits of Colorado (Carpenter, 1936).
Raphidia baltica., new species
Figure 1
Fore wing: length, 9 rnm.; width, 2.5 mrn.; costal space narrow, with only 5 crossveins (in type) ; pterostigma nar- row. Hind wing: length, 8 rnm. ; width, 2.5 mrn. Venational details are shown in the figure. Prothorax 2 mm. long, bi- colored; body in general dark brown.
Figure 1. Raphidia baltica, n. sp. Fore and hind wings drawn from holotype, No. 5122, MCZ.
Holotype : No. 5122, in Baltic Amber Collection, Museum of Comparative Zoology. This is a complete female, in a somewhat distorted position, with the tip of the right fore wing broken away. This species is a typical Raphidia, as shown by the venational pattern, especially the nature of the basal piece of MA in the hind wing (see Carpenter, 1936). It is similar to several living species in its general appearance.




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19561 Carpenter - Baltic Amber Snake-f lies 79 Family Inocelliidae
Genus FWa Navas
Existing species of Fibla are known to occur only in parts of the Old World, although one extinct species has been found in the Miocene of Colorado.
Fibia erigena (Hagen)
Figure 2
Raphidia (Inocellia) erigena Hagen, 1854, Ver. Zool. Bot. Ges., 4 :228 ; Hagen, 1856, in Berendt, Org. Reste, 2 (2) :83, plate 8, fig. 14.
Hagen's type of erigena is presumably lost, but two speci- mens in the Harvard collection undoubtedly belong here. They are the basis of the following account: Fore wing: length, 10-13 mm.; width 3.5 mm.; costal margin broad. Hind wing: length, 4.5 mm.; width 3 mm. Venational de- tails are shown in the figures. Prothorax 1.8 mm. long, 1 mm. wide.
Figure 2. Fibla erigena (Hagen). A. Fcre wing drawn from specimen No. 5120, MCZ. B. Hind wing drawn from specimen No. 5121, MCZ. For explanation of be and MP2, see text.
The original Hagen specimen was apparently splendidly preserved ; allowing for slight inaccuracies in Hagen's fig- ure, I can recognize no significant differences between his insect and the ones now at hand, which are as follows : No. 5120, with the right wings, head and thorax very well pre- served; the other wings and the abdomen have been broken



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80 Psyche [September
away. No. 5121, a female, with the left wings and complete body (including ovipositor) well preserved. This insect has the characteristics of an inocelliid, in- cluding the absence of ocelli and the pterostigmal crossvein and the presence of the forked MP2 and the rectangular head. Its assignment tmo FibZa is based on the nature of the basal piece of MA in the hind wing, as contrasted to that in InoceIZia (see, for example, figure 2). Genus InoceZZia Schneider
This genus is widely distributed, mainly in the holarctic realm, but it includes relatively few species. Extinct rep- resentatives have not previously been known. Inocellia peculiaris, new species
Figure 3
Fore wing: length 6 mm.; width 1.8 mm.; costal margin rather narrow, with only four crossveins. Hind wing: length 5.3 mm.; width, 1.6 mm.; the short vein (be) from base of MP to CuA is perpendicular to CuA, not oblique. MP'2 is without the usual fork occurring in inocelliids. Head, 1.4 mm. long; prothorax short, 1 mm. in length. General body color, dark brown.
Holotype : No : 5123 ; Museum of Comparative Zoology. Figure 3. Inocellia peculiaris, n. sp. A. Fore and hind wings of holo- type, No. 5023, MCZ. B. Head and prothorax of holotype. For explana- iton of be and MP2, see text.




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19561 Carpenter - Baltic Amber Snake-flies 81 The specimen, a male, is well preserved, with all wings com- plete and the body structure showing in detail. This species appears to have some features of both the raphidiids and inocelliids, and I have placed it in Inocellia only in preference to making a new genus for it. The ocelli are absent and the antennae are inserted well anterior to the compound eyes, as in the Inocelliidae; also, its pteros- tigma is without a transverse veinlet and the genital struc- tures are inocelliid. On the other hand, the head is not so quadrate as that in living inoeelliids, MP2 is unbranched, and the vein labeled be is transverse, as in the raphidiids. Furthermore, the small size of the insect, with a wing expanse of 13 mm., is more like that of the raphidiids than of the inocelliids. However, I prefer not to erect a new genus for this one species, and since the more obvious char- acteristics, such as lack of ocelli and pterostigmal cross- vein, are inocelliid in nature, I have tentatively placed it in Inocellia.
Although the number of snake-flies known to us in the Baltic amber is still very small, it is interesting to note that the genus Agulla is not represented and that the genus Inocellia is represented by only a very peculiar species, which may, in fact, not belong there at all. This lends some weight to my previous suggestion (1936) that Agulla and Inocellia have evolved more recently than Raphidia and Fibla, which are well represented in the Tertiary of both the New World (Colorado) and the Old (Baltic amber). LITERATURE CITED
CARPENTER, F. M.
1936. Revision of the Nearctic Raphidiodea (Recent and Fossil). Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts Sci.. 71 : 89-157. 1943. The Lower Permian insects of Kansas. Part 9. Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts Sci., 75: 65-68.
MARTYNOV, A. V.
1925. To the knowledge of fossil insects from the Jurassic beds in Turkestan. Bull. Acad. Sci. Russie, 19: 233-246; 569-572. MARTYNOVA, 0. M.
1947. Two new Raphidioptera from the Jurassic shales of Kara-tau. Doklady Acad. Sci. SSSR, 56 (6) :635-637. 1952. Permian Neuroptera of the 'SSSR. Trav. Paleontol. Inst.. Acad. Sci. SSSR. 40: 197-237.




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