54 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Feb.^ 



Genotype, selected by Rehn.^^^ — Hierodula [Mantis] niembranacea 

 (Burmeister) . 



We regret, but feel obliged to say that Giglio-Tos' treatment 

 of the Hierodulse leaves much to be desired. That author has 

 described eight genera and forty-six new species. The descrip- 

 tions are deplorably brief, in some cases represented by a single 

 short and wholly comparative sentence. The measurements omit 

 all but the most essential proportions. Not a single figure is given. 

 Not only are the major divisions faulty, but also the arrangement of 

 the species, such as placing without comment, Hierodula ovata, 

 clearly the female of Hierodula laevicollis, twenty-fourth and laevi- 

 collis thirty-fifth. 



Finally we are disturbed by Giglio-Tos' conception of what con- 

 stitutes a species. That author has described Slagmomantis nordica 

 from Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland. After years of careful 

 field work in that region we have proof positive that Slagmomantis 

 Carolina (Johansson) is the only Mantid which occurs there, nordica 

 being based on merely an intensively colored phase of that species. 

 Realizing this we are dismayed at the number of new species de- 

 scribed from little known tropical regions, the descriptions giving 

 differences which are so slight that we can but fear that a multitude 

 of invalid species have been proposed. 



The situation only shows the absolute necessity at the present 

 time, of the specialist, working on a particular group of insects, to 

 have a first hand knowledge of the forms in nature. It would 

 appear that the most serious defects in Giglio-Tos' studies are due 

 to the fact that that author has apparently had little or no prepara- 

 tion in the field for the task undertaken. 



Hierodula gracilicollis Stal. 



1877. H[ierodula\ gracilicollis St&l, Bih. till K. Svenska Vet. Akad. Handl., 



IV, No. 10, p. 58. [ 9 ; Sarawak, [Borneo].] 

 1898. H[ierodula] stigmata Brunner, Abhandl. Senkenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 

 XXIV, p. 214, pi. XVII, fig. 21. [cT ; Kina Balu, [British North] Borneo.] 



We believe Kirby correct in considering stigmata the same as 

 gracilicollis, but are of the opinion that Mantis similis Giebel is 

 best assigned to synonymy under Hierodula venosa (Olivier). 



Labuan Island, British North Borneo, 2 cf , 1 9 . 



These specimens are the most delicate and slender of any material 

 now before us representing the genus Hierodula or its allies. The 



s^Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1903, p. 708, (190.3). 



