1908.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 513 



REMARKS ON PROF. CHAMBERLIN'S REVISION OF NORTH AMERICAN 

 LYCOSID.E. 



BY THOMAS H. MONTGOMERY, JR. 



In Part II of Volume LX of the Proceedings of the Academy of Nat- 

 ural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1908, Prof. R. V. Chamberlin has a 

 memoir entitled a "Revision of North American Spiders of the Family 

 Lycosidffi." This paper is one of decided importance in introducing 

 generic characters based upon the structure of the copulatory organs, 

 and in presenting detailed descriptions of the species. But it is only 

 fair to my antecedent studies on the same group that I should make 

 certain brief criticisms, lest later students might consider Prof. Cham- 

 berlin's paper as finally conclusive and authoritative. 



In my "Description of North American Araneae of the Famihes 

 Lycosidae and Pisauridse" (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1904) I recog- 

 nized among other valid species twenty that had been described and 

 named by me, whereby I relegated to the synonymy certain few species 

 that I had described as new in two preceding papers. Of these twenty 

 species of which I am the author Prof. Chamberlin regards only two 

 worthy of recognition under the names I had given them, to which 

 treatment I would enter the following partial criticism: 



(1) Prof. Chamberlin fails to mention at all two of my species, 

 Lycosa mccooki and Trochosa contestata. 



(2) He places my Trochosa noctuabunda as a questionable synonym 

 of his Allocosa degesta; but if these species are identical my name 

 should have the priority. 



(3) He makes my Lycosa antelucana a synonym of L. apicata Banks ; 

 but my description was published in March, and that of Banks not until 

 June, 1904, hence the name antelucana has the priority. 



(4) He enters five of my species as synonyms of four of those of 

 Hentz, by resuscitating Hentz's Lycosa saltatrix, fativera, milvina and 

 funerea. For each of the first two of these species Hentz gave a four- 

 fine description, for milvina a five-line, and for funerea only three lines, 

 and his figures are lacking in all necessary details. In 1904 I had 

 written: "At the present time it is practically impossible to identify 

 most of the species of Walckenaer, Blackwall, Hentz and some others, 



