ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 



PHILADELPHIA, PA., MAY, 1918. 



The Forms of Generic and of Specific Names. 



In view of the forms of generic and specific names in arti- 

 cles recently submitted for publication in the NEWS and in 

 other entomological journals, it seems necessary to call the 

 attention of authors and others to the rules of zoological no- 

 menclature governing these forms. The examples are of our 

 own selection. 



Of the International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature 

 (Proceedings, Ninth International Zoological Congress, Mo- 

 naco, 1913), Article 8 reads: "A generic name must consist of 

 a single word, simple or compound, written with ar initial cap- 

 ital letter, and employed as a substantive in the nominative 

 singular." 



Example : Johannsenia, NOT Johannseni. 



Article 14 of the International Rules reads : "Specific names 

 are : 



a. Adjectives which must agree grammatically with the 



generic name." 



Example: Lopidca minima, NOT minimus; Pogonomyia spinitarsis, 

 NOT spinitarsus; Johannsenia aurea, NOT aurei. 



"b. Substantives in the nominative in apposition with the 

 generic name." 



Example: Lopidca narajo. L. arirjona is, perhaps, admissable, but 

 L. arizonae is better (see Article 16 quoted below). 



"c. Substantives in the genitive." 



Example: Lopidea garryae (because found breeding on the plant 

 Garrya wrightii'). 



"If the name is given as a dedication to one or several per- 

 sons, the genitive is formed in accordance with the rules of 

 Latin declination in case the name was employed and declined 



192 



