THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 177 



ON THE GENUS LECANIUM. 



BY MRS. C. H. FERNALD, AMHERST, MASS. 



In the preparation of my Catalogue of the Coccidte I was not able to 

 find where Illiger had proposed or described the genus Lecanium, 

 although Burmeister in his Handbook of Entomology, Vol. II., p. 

 69 (1835), used this genus, giving Illiger as the authority. Bur- 

 meister described the genus and placed under it hcsperidum, 

 Linn., and several other species. My husband, Prof. C. H. Fernald, 

 wrote to Mr. Theodore Pergande, inquiring if he could give me any 

 information whether Illiger had really published this genus, and if so 

 where it could be found. Mr. Pergande has sent the following letter in 

 reply, and has consented to have it published : 



" My dear Professor, — In accordance with my promise of December 

 9, 1 90 1, regarding the authority for the genus Lecaniiim, I wrote to Dr. 

 K. Mobius, Director of the Zoological Museum of Berlin, Germany, for 

 information on this point, and received lately from Dr. Th. Kuhlgatz, 

 Assistant in the Museum, the following answer: 



" ' In answer to your request, I inform you herewith that the generic 

 name Lecanium, Illiger, in Burmeister's Handbook, Vol. II., was 

 doubtless the first publication of this name ; a name which Illiger, prior 

 to Burmeister's publication, had either written on some label or used in 

 some manuscript which was never published. 



"'At any rate, I have failed to find anything in the literature 

 pertaining to this genus, which would justify us to accept Illiger as the 

 author. 



" ' I wish to call your attention to the fact that Burmeister frequently 

 credited the authorship for specimens to someone else, notwithstanding 

 that the first publication of such species was made by himself. 



'"For instance, he credited the authorship of Colobatristes macronatus, 

 Handbuch II., p. 325, which was described by him for the first time, not 

 to himself, but to Klug. The label of the type in the Berlin Museum 

 explains it fully. The label shows neither the name of Burmeister nor of 

 Klug, as being the author, but simply " N," behind the name of the 



