The discovery that in nearly all species, when the various 

 populations are carefully studied, the individuals present 

 variations which tend to fall into graded series or clines, has 

 always created problems for taxonomists, since a type must be 

 selected from a variable series, the remaing deviations from 

 the norm being regarded as varieties. It has also been found 

 that when a large number of definitive populations are exam- 

 ned they tend to fall into graded series or clines, the so- 

 called Rassenkreise of Rensch. 



Since under traditional sysrematics all recognizable differ- 

 ences in organisms must be given distinctive names, usually 

 with trivial standing, these multiplied on a grand scale. As 

 Wagler (1912), in connection with the naming of new species 

 oi Daphnia, put it, "Sie sprossen wie Pilze aus die Erde.*' 



Since the taxonomic study of most groups of animals has 

 followed a somewhat piecemeal pattern, the discovery of their 

 clinal relationship was not disclosed till extensive collections 

 had been accumulated covering the geographic range of the 

 species and the pattern formed by their local races. It was 

 found that many species had been described which were based 

 upon microgeographic races. 



As the clinal relation of the various populations was recog- 

 nized in the better known groups of animals, particularly in 

 the vertebrates, a wholesale reduction in the number of listed 

 species took place. In the invertebrate phyla a similar situ- 

 tion exists, and as the various groups are critically studied 

 from this standpoint the necessary readjustments are being 

 made. When this revisionary process is carried out the already 

 vast accumulation of synonyms will be greatly increased. In 

 ijisects, on account of the magnitude and complexity of the 

 group, a state of nomenclatorial chaos exists (Hubbell, 1954.) 

 In some orders, as in the Coleoptera, certain authors have 

 followed a conservative pattern, and have avoided what they 

 instinctively recognized as local races, and as a result they 

 have created few synonyms, while others have based their 

 descriptions upon slight deviations from the norm, and have 



