GENERIC NAMES OF THE FAMILY STAPHYLINIDAE 23 



3. GENOTYPE 



The full name of the genotype species at the time of fixation is 

 given, with its author's name in parenthesis if it was not new in this 

 genus, and the original genus in parenthesis in the latter case. For 

 example, under Domene : 



Genotype : Domene scabricollis (Erichson) (Lathrobium) . 



The use of parentheses around the author's name under these cir- 

 cumstances is so simple and seems to be so unambiguous in the Rules 

 that it is a surprise to find how much difficulty can arise in practice. 

 The Rules do not state why anyone might desire to use parentheses, 

 but this appears to be the key to a sound interpretation that will cover 

 all cases. 



Only one reason has been put forward as justification for use of 

 parentheses. In referring back to the original description of the 

 species, one would normally look for it under the generic name with 

 which he found it combined. For example, in seeking the original 

 publication of Zeeu-s alhus "White, one would look under Zeeus in 

 White's paper or under Zeeus in catalogs and nomenclators. After 

 exhausting the possibilities under Zeeus, he would conclude that it 

 must have been originally in a different genus and would start again, 

 looking for clues to show which genus. If the name had been written 

 Zeeus albus ("White), he would have known at the start that it would 

 not be found under Zeeus, and he could have commenced at once the 

 search for the original combination. The parentheses thus serve as 

 a warning that the original publication was not under the generic 

 name that it would normally have been expected to be under. No 

 other justification for use of the parentheses has been suggested to me, 

 and the following discussion is based on the assumption that this is 

 its sole use. 



The arrangement of scientific names, both in the text of systematic 

 works and in formal indexes, is almost universally by genera. In the 

 text it is never by species, but it may be not only by genera but also 

 by subgenera under the genera. In indexes arrangement is nearly 

 always by genera, sometimes also by species, and usually not by sub- 

 genera as such. Nomenclators and catalogs rarely index species 

 directly, but even when they do so, the species are not indexed under 

 the subgenera. Therefore, the only thing that can normally be shown 

 to advantage by the use of parentheses is that the generic name now 

 being used is not the same as the generic name used in the original. 



Therefore, parentheses should be used around the author's name if 

 the generic name being used is not the one used (as the genus) in the 

 original publication of the species name. The use of a subgeneric 



