THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 105 



SYNONYMICAL AND OTHER NOTES ON COLEOPTERA. 



BY THOS L. CASEY, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



The fact that some important catalogues of the Coleoptera of the 

 world are about to be published, renders it desirable to afford all the aid 

 possible to the compilers of these lists, by making known such apparent 

 synonymy relating to published species, as may have come to light since 

 their appearance in the literature of the subject. The writer has therefore 

 endeavoured to do his part, as far as the course now seems clear and 

 evident to him, in the following notes. 



The recent catalogue of the Staphylinid genera by Dr. Eichelbaum 

 (Mem. Soc. Ent. Belg., XVII) is a very welcome summary, although 

 personally, my position is undesirably conspicuous in regard to the number 

 of generic names proposed, and I had hoped to be overshadowed in this 

 respect by some other specialists in the family. A reduction of the 

 number ascribed to the writer is therefore in order, although some already 

 reduced to synonymy, such as Etunitoccrus Csy., which is a synonym of 

 TricJiophya, are restored by Dr. Eichelbaum inadvertently, and one, at 

 least, reduced by the compiler, i.e. Myrmobiota, will have to be restored 

 to full generic rank, as it has very little to do with HoviKusa. Dr. Eichel- 

 baum would also have done well to place Liparocephahis in the 

 Aleochariuce near P/iytosus, which is its true systematic position. 



In regard to emendations, the author has been very liberal ; but, in 

 my opinion, no generic word should be emended at all. Generic words 

 are not a part of language to any greater extent than the x, y, z of algebra. 

 They are merely pronounceable symbols formed by combinations of letters, 

 although in many cases their derivation, or intended derivation, from 

 certain words, either of classic or barbaric origin, is sufficiently evident. 

 Not being strictly a part of language however, they should be withdrawn 

 from rules of etymology, in order to protect them from possible 

 emendators of diverging views ; — that is if stability in the fundaments of 

 nomenclature is to be maintained. It is highly desirable, and ought to be 

 compulsory, that the generic symbol should have an ending conforming to 

 the Latin language, in order to determine gender in the specific word; but 

 just how such a rule could be enforced is rather difficult to imagine. In 

 the fixing of gender for species names the general Latin rule should be 

 applied, but without those exceptions which always occur in actual 



April, 1910 



