ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 



[The Conductors of ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS solicit and will thankfully receive items 

 of news likely to interest its readers from any source. The author's name will be given 

 in each case, for the information of cataloguers and bibliographers.] 



To Contributors. All contributions will be considered and passed upon at out 

 earliest convenience, and, as far as may be, will be published according to date of recep- 

 tion. ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS has reached a circulation, both in numbers and circumfer- 

 ence, as to make it necessary to put " copy " into the hands of the printer, for each num- 

 ber, three weeks before date of issue. This should be remembered in sending special or 

 important matter for a certain issue. Twenty-five "extras," without change in form, 

 will be given free, when they are wanted ; and this should be so stated on the MS., along 

 with the number desired. The receipt of all papers will be acknowledged. ED. 



PHILADELPHIA, PA., FEBRUARY, 1906. 



The great number of undescribed species of insects in this 

 country made it necessary for those interested in entomology 

 to devote a considerable portion of their time to systematic 

 work and to the description of these forms. There is no 

 doubt that many species have been described from insufficient 

 material without proper data and we have also had the " split- 

 ter " with us. Now that the great territory between the Mis- 

 sissippi and the Pacific Ocean is becoming better known and 

 series of good material accumulating, it has become possible 

 to ascertain the true relationship between many described 

 forms. The great desideratum at the present time is an 

 efficient nomenclature that will properly express the relation- 

 ship of allied forms. The old term variety has been found 

 more or less wanting, but it had the great advantage of show- 

 ing relationship between names. It is a question whether the 

 trinomial system is much of an advance. Terms like " to- 

 pomorph" express an idea of evolution but do not necessarily 

 show relationship. We notice recently that a number of per- 

 sons are compiling data from various collections to get at the 

 relationship of species through distribution, time of appearance, 

 etc., and we will look forward with pleasure to the outcome. 

 Cooperative studies of this kind may give excellent results. 



68 



