124 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [, April 'O2 



One of the worries of the economic entomologist comes in the selection 

 of the names by which the insects are to be known in his bulletins and to his 

 constituents. Sometimes the matter is easy ; as when some striking color 

 or other habital character exists, or when the scientific name lends itself to 

 ready translation. But sometimes these things fail and practically it remains 

 to make the scientific name the popular one, in whole or in part, e.g., the 

 cranberry Teras, the apple Buccnlatrix, the Petilia misella, etc. I have 

 found in my experience that it is not much more difficult to get a farmer to 

 use a reasonably short scientific name than a clumsy " popular" one. But 

 when once a scientific name has come into popular use, that name should 

 be continued as such, even if the scientific name is changed, in whole or 

 in part. 



A dozen years ago or more, when I first began work in New Jersey, I 

 studied the pests of a special crop and, for three years in succession, re- 

 ported progress to an Association of the growers of that crop. It was my 

 misfortune to find in one of the leading pests one whose generic position 

 fluctuated abominably. I tried conscientiously to keep up with the changes 

 and every time I talked to my constituents referred to it by a new generic 

 name. Finally, one of the growers remarked, rather sarcastically, that 

 there seemed to be very little certainty in entomolgy when even the names 

 of the insects changed every year ! I took the suggestion to heart, and 

 now-a-days when I have once used a name in a "popular" way, that 

 "popular" use of the term continues, no matter what change the syste- 

 matist makes, and no matter how well the change may be based from his 



standpoint. 



<* 



Doings of Societies. 



A regular meeting of the Chicago Entomological Society was 

 held in the John Crerar Library, Thursday evening, February 

 20, 1902, at 8 o'clock. Eight members present. President 

 W. E. Longley in the chair. Visitors Mr. C. Schwartz and 

 Miss Spitler, of Wellesley, Mass. 



Mr. Wm. J. Gerhard was elected a member of the Society 

 by unanimous vote. 



The topic, Mimetic Forms and Protective Coloring, was then 

 discussed. Mr. C. C. Adams read an interesting paper. Among 

 other things he showed how the coloring matter in the intes- 

 tines of some insects helped to give them the color of the food 

 plant, and also that the color alone was often not so important 

 a factor in mimetic protection as the shape. Some specimens 

 of flies were then shown that mimicked certain bees and wasps. 

 Mr. A. Kwiat also exhibited some L,epidoptera. 



