Fossorial Hymen&ptera of North America. 41 



admitted in the animal kingdom are far to numerous to admit of dis- 

 tinct names for them. The only practical method of avoiding the 

 present practice of burdening science with multitudinous and often 

 unmeaning and superfluous names for the numerous groups constantly 

 revealing themselves to the naturalist, is to fix upon the better pro- 

 nounced groups, in different orders or sub-orders, for example, and 

 balance them among themselves, indicating equivalent divisions so far 

 as possible. It is only in this way that naturalists can harmonize their 

 views. Thus retaining Latreille's term "family" for the groups of 

 hymenoptera to which he applied it, why net adhere to it as a standard, 

 and indicate the sub-families by name, while the sections and sub-sec- 

 tions need not be indicated by names, thus burdening nomenclature, but 

 simply by figures or letters, or other convenient symbols. In our view 

 the Family Crabronidae seems equivalent in value to the BombycidcO 

 among lepidoptera, and its sub-families Philanthinse, Crabroninae and 

 Pemphredoninse rank with either of the twelve sub-families Bomby- 

 cinae, Arctiadae or Attaci, etc. Thus the genera Crabro, Blepliaripus 

 or Thj/ri opus, or Stigmus, will become equivalent to Attacus, Samia, 

 Callosamia, or Eucronia, and the groups of species of Crabro, of which 

 C. singularis, C. arcuatus, G. stirpicola are types, will be equivalent to 

 the three sub-divisions of A.rctia, represented by A. Virgo, A. Dionc and 

 A. Nats. By comparisons of this sort our ideas concerning these natu- 

 ral groups become better grounded. 



We have below indicated and described, without feeling the necessity 

 of naming, groups, which with our present material for study, we con- 

 sider as sub-genera. We would treat sub-species in the same way, as 

 they are what are often called "geographical varieties" or representa- 

 tive species. If sub-genera are named, the nomenclature is immediately 

 changed from a binominal to a trinominal one. If we name the sub- 

 species also it becomes quadrinominal, and thus science is still further 

 burdened with a long array of useless names. We must strongly pro- 

 test against the present bad fashion of naming so called "families" or 

 minor collections of genera, connected by characters of very slight 

 importance. Admitting that these inconsiderable sub-divisions are 

 natural and founded in nature, let us for convenience forbear cumbering 

 science with names for them. Thus fiuenee sub-divides the family 

 Noctitldx. already very well circumscribed by Latreille. into some twenty 

 '■families;" to such an extent have specialists in some departments 

 carried the process of sub-division. 



PROCEEDINGS ENT. SOC. PHILAD. MAY, 1866. 



