MORGAN HEBARD 393 



Of the other older records of viridipes and "vinduhi.%" all 

 apply to typical viridipes (plate XVI, figs. 11 and 12) except 

 Lugger's state record for Minnesota, which was very possibly 

 based upon an intermediate condition, such as wo havefroni Wis- 

 consin.* 



This geographic race agrees closely with typical viridipes, 

 differing principally in the male cerci being heavier, shorter and 

 taper distad, with apex bluntly rounded. 



From over the wide range of this species eastward from Lake 

 County, hidiana, not a single male before us shoAvs a cereal 

 development intermediate in character between the typical con- 

 dition of V. eurycercus and that developed in v. viridipes, and we 

 unhesitatingly describe this interesting geographic race. The 

 race v. viridipes is similarly constant over a large portion of Illi- 

 nois and some of the adjacent regions, as is demonstrated by 

 very large series before us, in large part loaned by the Illinois 

 State Laboratory of Natural History.^" 



^'ojn his "Orthoptera of Xortheastern America" Blatchley has treated 

 viridipes and its alhes in a particularly superficial and unsatisfactory manner. 

 Of the distinct though closely related species described by Morse, he has 

 synonymized deceptus and similis under viridipes. The liasty examination 

 of types and other historic material, without effort being made to secure 

 additional evidence, has caused Blatchley's work to fall far below the standard 

 requisite in contemporary studies, particularly in groups such as the present, 

 where forms occur having differences between them which cannot be valued 

 accurately without thorough investigation. 



That author's failure to comprehend or recognize geographic races is diffi- 

 cult to understand, but when we consider that he published on the present 

 problem without effort to study, let alone see or compare, the large Illinois 

 and eastern series available, we are not surprised that the conclusions are 

 incorrect. If time for compilation of so large a work, having "ever in mind 

 the needs of the tyro and not those of the specialist," alone was available, 

 it is much to be regretted that the author's desire for revision was not curbed. 

 Many nomenclatorial changes were made, based on what may well be termed 

 snap judgments, which sadly lack the substantial backing to be gained by 

 thorough analyses and comparisons of a reasonable amount of material. 

 We are well aware that little more than a cursory examination of the historic 

 specimens involved was attempted, though the resultant findings often 

 blandly contradict the published conclusions of others, which had been 

 reached only after years of constant study, building little by little toward 

 a substantial and scientific knowledge of the Orthoptera of North America. 



TR.-iNS. Ail. ENT. SOC, XLVI. 



