June, '05] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 165 



teenth century be examined it will be found that whatever 

 changes in the list of species of Sp/iex were made, sabulosa was 

 always retained in that genus, showing that the older entomo- 

 logists regarded it as a true Sphcx. Thus Blumenbach, in his 

 " Handbuch der Naturgeschichte," gives brief descriptions of 

 the different genera with the names of one (sometimes two) 

 species as examples, and under Sphex he gives sabulosa as the 

 sole example. Fabricius, in his " Systema Piezatorum ' in 

 1804, also recognizes the way in which the name Sphcx was 

 being used, for, rejecting Kirby's genus Ammophila established 

 in 1798, in which sabulosa had been placed, he restores this 

 species lo Sphex and establishes the genus Pepsi's for the post- 

 Linnsean insects which had been placed in Sphcx by later 

 writers. 



Linnaeus' own rule that where a genus is divided the old 

 generic name should be retained for that part of the genus 

 including the most common or medicinal species should surely 

 have weight in any case dealing with a Linnaean type, and the 

 two species best known and best described by him appear to be 

 sabulosa and spirifex. The latter being omitted from his 

 "Fauna Suecica," three years later, however, again leaves 

 sabulosa as the type of the genus Sphex. 



This result is far less disturbing to nomenclature than the 

 alternative one making pectznipes the type as it leaves the name 

 of the family as before. The main changes produced will be 

 that Ammophila will become a synonym of Sphcx and the 

 subfamily AmmophiLintz will become the Sphering, and a new 

 name will be needed for the genus recently known as Sphcx. 

 As there seem to have been no synonyms for this which can 

 now be revived, the oldest subgenus Chlorion may be raised to 

 generic rank (which was its original standing) as the generic 

 name. A new name for the former subgenus Sphcx will also 

 be needed and for this the writer proposes the name Protcros- 

 phex (from TrSorepos older 2<r/ wasp) suggesting the name 

 used for the insects of this group during the last century. 



The results of these changes may perhaps be better appreci- 

 ated by a comparison of the following tables : 



