The Wing-Venation of the Coleoptera*

In the course of the last two generations, since the first attempts by Adolph (Nova Acta der Leop.-Carol. deutschen Akad. d. Naturf. 41(2), 213, 1880.) and Redtenbacher (Ann. d. k. k. naturhist. Hofmuseums I, 153, 1886) the comparative study of the wing-veins of the various groups of insects, supplemented by that of their larval tracheæ, has shown that all insect wings have a venation based on a common plan, whose modifications in the various orders are for the most part, well understood. In the Coleoptera, alone, of the larger orders, there is nothing approaching agreement in interpretation, for several reasons. In the first place the venation is sufficiently unique, and complicated, to make such a superficial study as brought even Adolph and Redtenbacher close to the truth in the Lepidoptera, for instance, almost completely futile. The complicated foldings also interrupt the veins and cause distortions in their courses. Further, the first forms studied for their pupal tracheation were specialized Cerambycidæ, a family in which the tracheation is degenerate and no longer fully corresponds to the veins. Several workers, notably Kempers (Tijd. voor Entom. 42 to 45) and Kolbe (Archiv fur Naturges. 67: Beiheft 89, 1901) have been thrown off by Adolph’s or Woodworth’s theories of an alternate system of convex and concave veins, which in the manner applied by them, is deceptive in the higher orders. More recently d’Orchymont has proposed a more carefully studied scheme, but his also ignores the evidence of the tracheation, and to me seems only half correct. Kühne’s study of the tracheation (Zeits. wiss. Zool. 112: 692) alone has resulted in essentially the same conclusions which are expanded below. His paper is somewhat diagrammatically illustrated and appears to have been largely ignored by other workers; but I have veritfied his main conclusions, the differences between our results being mainly a matter of interpretation.