THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 167 



it is necessary to cite an example, and I take the first one at hand, remark- 

 ing at the same time that these cases are very numerous, and that it is 

 unjust to single out a particular person for condemnation. 



In a paper published in Vol. 30 of the Canadian Entomologist, 

 some ;iT, new genera of Phytophaga are proposed in consequence of the 

 rearrangement of this group. In all cases, save one, the author is careful 

 to state the species that served as types for the new genera, but in every 

 case the old genus is represented by its initial merely, so that neither the 

 direct statements of the author nor the context give the slightest clue to 

 the name. Let us take a specific illustration. On pp. 286-287 is given 

 a table of the genera of Hemichroinse, of which three are recognized : 

 " Heinichroa, Curtis ; Opist/iotieiira, Ashm., n. g. (type O. crevecoe^iri, 

 AsHM.) ; Marlattia, Ashm , n. g. (ty|)e H. laricis. Marl.)." What, pray, 

 is O. crevecoeuri ? It can not be Opiithoneura, for that is a new genus, 

 and the species crevecoeuri is not new. What does H. laricis mean ? It 

 is true that in this case the bibliographer can, by comparing species by 

 species with Dalle Torre's catalogue, ascertain with great probability 

 what these initials mean ; but this involves many hours of study, and the 

 Hymenoptera form the only group for which this would be at all practi- 

 cable. Indeed, the recorder of the Zoological Record did not take 

 such pains, so that in liis report the initials have been allowed to stand 

 quite out of connection with the original grouping, so that the confusion 

 is still further increased. 



But why should a scientific writer impose such burdens upon his 

 readers? I refuse to believe that motives of economy force editors to 

 print H. for Hemichroa, or that a man of science begrudges the few extra 

 strokes of the pen necessary to make his published work intelligible. No, 

 it is a mere matter of thoughtless habit, which needs only to be pointed 

 out to be corrected. Herbert Haviland Field. 



Zurich, Switzerland. 



A NEW GENUS OF APHELININ^ FROM CHILE. 



BY L. O. HOWARD, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Since the publication of the writer's "Revision of the Aphelinin?e of 

 North America" (Bulletin i. Technical Series, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, Division of Entomology, 1895), the discovery of new forms. 



