THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 209 



the character of the genus. The quoted figure of Roesel well represents 

 this species. The insects in Linne s collection have been labelled by him 

 in accordance with Ed. x. of his Syst. Nat. At this time the imago of 

 the Swedish species (1758) was unknown to him, and was only published 

 later (1761) in the Ed. ii., of his Fn. Suecica. It is evident that Linnaeus 

 has believed Reaumur's species and the Swedish one to be identical, as he 

 says in Ed. xii., "Alae nostratis obsque maculis fuscis," and as he has 

 called this species M. formicariwn, instead of M.formicaleo, as in all his 

 anterior works. Now every student of Neuroptera, since half a century 

 ago, knows very well that Linne has combined two different species, and 

 that a new name would be needed for one of them ; but as a second 

 species had been described also by Linnaus this name was accepted for 

 the Swedish species as M. formicalynx. Therefore, indeed, no mistake 

 and no uncertainty was possible. McLachlan has given no proof for his 

 opinion that M. formicalynx from Africa belongs to a different unknown 

 species. McLachlan's quotation I.e., p. 441 and 442, "In the first 

 edition of the Fn. Suec, 1746, he (Linne') says of an antlion alae obsolete 

 nebulosae? is not to be found at all in this book, and could not be found, 

 as Linne described only the larva. The words obsolete nebulosae occur 

 in no work of Linne, nor in any other work known to me describing this 

 insect ; but I have now the kind information by McL. that those words 

 were taken out of the interleaved copy of the Fauna Suecica, and that 

 my friend is now sure that they belong not at all to Myrmeleon. 



McLachlan proposes to use the name M. formicarium, which every 

 body has used for more than a century, since Syst. Nat, Edit, xii., 1767, 

 for Reaumur's species, for the Swedish species. McLachlan proposed 

 for Reaumur's species at first the name M. formicaleo used by Linne 

 in Ed. x. and by Poda ; later he proposed to call it M. Ettropceus, which 

 was adopted by Mr Redtenbacher and Prof. Brauer, though the latter 

 remarked that if a new name was needed M. nostras Fourcroy would 

 have the priority. 



Concerning such changes of names, should be studied the excellent 

 dissertation of Dr. Elias Fries, Ofver Vexternes Namn Upsala, 1842 

 (also in Fries's Botaniska Utflygter, T. i., p. 113, and German Transl. in 

 Hornschuch Archiv., 1855, T. i.), where also about Linne's collection, 

 the former idolatry and the later belittling in England, excellent advice 

 and notice will be found. 



