g2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxvi. 



optera can claim priorit3^ and correctness of formation and should ■ 

 therefore be adopted. 



While the scientitic name of the group has been su])jected to so 

 many changes, the most frequent!}^ used common name has persisted ■ 

 unchanged since the time of Linnteus. It is nothing more or less 

 than the name which lie gave to the genus Thrips, and is now applied 

 in the same form to any individual of the order. It is therefore 

 incorrect to drop the '"s" when referring to an individual, as isJ 

 frequently done. Thrips is a Latin name derived from the Greek' 

 ^ptip, meaning a wood-louse, and is in the singular number and mas- 

 culine gender, as will be also all generic names of which it forms the 

 termination. 



Various other connnon names based upon two of the most striking 

 characters of the group have also been used to a limited extent: Blad- 

 der feet (Blasenfusse or Vesitarses), referring to the peculiar structure 

 of the extremity of the leg, is appropriate and much used by German ^ 

 writers. Fringe-wings, from Th3^sanoptera, has also been used, but 

 much more rarely. 



SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF THYSANOPTERA. 



The systematic position of this group has undergone unusual change' 

 since its establishment by Linnaeus. Working as he did upon the 

 most striking superficial characters, Linnteus recognized in Thrips 

 certain affinities with the Hemiptera-Homoptera, in which order he 

 placed them. About 1828 through the anatomical studies of Straus- 

 Durcheim and Latreille, sufficient evidence was obtained to lead 

 Latreille to separate them from the Hemiptera and place them among 

 the Orthoptera. By other writers they have been regarded as Pseudo- 

 neuroptera, but at the present time the general opinion is that they 

 form an order by themselvies. 



So far as the writer can learn, the best work dealing with this ques- 

 tion has been done by Jordan (309). His studies were made princi- 

 pally upon Ilel'wtlirlpii dracxiix Heeger, representing the Terebrantia 

 and Phhvothrips hrunnea Jordan, representing the Tubulifera, but. 

 many other species were also considered and his conclusions are basec 

 upon anatomical (both external iuid internal) and biological consideraj 

 tions. The following is a free translation of a portion of Jordan's 

 conclusion. 



In regard to the place of Ph;/sapoda, we must classify them according to thei! 

 immersed germ band and their larval form in the line of the Orthoptera, HomopteraJ 

 Hemiptera, wherein they should be placed according to their anatomy and biology! 



In habits the Physapoda, especially the larvje, resemble small Cicadellina\ Th« 

 hypognathism of Thrips is found in such marked degree that the mouth cone com€ 

 to lie under the prothorax as in the case of Homoptera, especially Phytophthira 

 The number and position of the ocelli resembles the Orthoptera s. 1. more than th« 

 Homoptera, while the position of the antennae is siniilar to that of the Orthopter 



