Eoses (Mecoptera?); Lepidopteran origins

[Ken Kinman]

     I thank Dr. Kuprijanov for his information that Eoses is probably a
Mecopteran.  However, assuming that Eoses is definitely not a
Lepidopteran (for which there seems to be some consensus), this throws
me back to my original problem---is Trichoptera (which arose in the
Permian) a paraphyletic group that later gave rise to the Lepdioptera??
Or are they truly sister groups as Hennig and other cladists have
maintained.  This has ecological implications beyond the systematic
ones, since oen group is basically aquatic and the other is basically
terrestrial.
     My question is: do Trichoptera have any definitive characteristics
that would exclude the possibility that some trichopteran group gave
rise to Lepidoptera (perhaps after the Permian extinction event)?
                         Cheers, Ken Kinman
P.S.  Thomas, I cannot remember for sure when Eoses was described, but I
believe it was in the late 1930's (maybe 1937 or 1938; but I wouldn't
swear to it).  But if it isn't an early lepidopteran, then it doesn't
have as much systematic value (since Mecoptera, Trichoptera, other
related groups arose before the Permian extinction).  The fossil record
thus makes me even more skeptical that Trichoptera and Lepidoptera are
truly sister groups, but I am open to evidence that they are (and thus
the question I posed in my note above).

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