CATALOGUE OF BACTERIA ASSOCIATED 

 EXIRACELLULARLY WITH INSECTS AND TICKS 



INTRODUCTION 



There has long "been a need for an inventory and a 

 systematic cataloguing of the "bacteria associated with 

 insects and ticks. Much of the confusion which today 

 prevents a thorough understanding of the "biologic rela- 

 tionships existing "between "bacteria and these arthropods 

 might "be avoided if investigators were furnished with a 

 comprehensive list of the entomophytic "bacteria and a 

 statement concerning their arthropod relationships. To 

 do this has "been the chief objective of the present mono- 

 graph. 



A survey of the literature on "bacteriologic-entomologic 

 relationships indicates that there is an utter lack of 

 conformity "between the names given to certain "bacteria "by 

 "bacteriologists and those used "by entomologists for the 

 same bacterium. Entomologic literature is filled with 

 names given to "bacteria, references to which are not 

 found anywhere in "bacteriologic literature. Furthermore, 

 there are numerous examples of the same "bacterium "being 

 cited with different names "by different authors. To add 

 to the confusion, many investigators have not attempted 

 to identify or to classify properly the "bacteria they ' 

 have isolated or found associated with insects. This has 

 resulted in many taxonomic "ghosts" and ambiguities. 



It would not "be appropriate to discuss here all sys- 

 tematic inconsistencies which appear in the literature 

 on this subject. On the other hand, it is perhaps ad- 

 visable to point out a few of the more serious causes of 

 confusion in the hope that "by focusing attention upon 

 them now they may "be avoided in the future. 



One of the principle inconsistencies has "been in the 

 choice of the generic names. Although taxonomic pro- 

 cedures were not very definite during the early days of 

 "bacteriology, nevertheless, the errors made were out of 

 all proportion to what they excusably might have been. 

 Today, the rules of bacterial nomenclature have been 

 fairly well established and are worthy of the attention 

 of all those about to indulge in the naming of micro- 

 organisms. The indiscriminate use of the generic names 

 Bacillus and Bacterium should definitely be discouraged. 



