20 ■ SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. "J^i 



OPINION 113 



Sarcoptes Latreille, 1802, Type scabici. Placed in 

 Official List 



SUMMARY. — Sarcoptes Latreille dates from 1802 instead of 1804 or 1806 

 as frequently quoted. It was originally monotypic, containing only Acarus 

 scabiei. The 1810 type designation of Acarus passerinus is invalid under Arti- 

 cle 30c and 3oea. The acceptance of Acarus scabiei as type species of Acarus 

 is invalidated by Article sog, according to which Acarus siro (syn. farinac) 

 is the type of Acarus. Sarcoptes Latr., 1802, mt. scabici is hereby placed in 

 the Official List of Generic Names. 



Presentation of case. — This case has been presented to the Com- 

 mission in correspondence and verbally by several persons. The docu- 

 ments are too extensive to be reprinted here in full but they may be 

 summarized briefly as follows : 



A. Oiidemans maintains that the pre-Linnaean history of the generic name 

 Acarus and of the specific name siro clearly shows that these two names were 

 used for the itch mite of man. In a very learned discussion he traces this use 

 of the word Acarus to the following dates : 



1557, 1567, 1577, 1622, 1630, 1634, 1641, 1650, 1657, 1658, 1660, 1663, 1664, 

 1667, 1671, 1675, 1676, 1677, 1680, 1686, 1689, 1691, 1692, 1696, 1699, 1700, 

 1703, 1708, 1722, 1724, 1733, 1735, 1739, 1740, 1756; 

 and this use of the word siro to the following dates : 



1513, 1516, 1570, 1602, 1607, 1608, 1619, 1631, 1641, 1650, 1652, 1656, 1660, 



1661, 1670, 1676, 1679, 1680, 1682, 1686, 1687, 1689, 1691, 1695, 1697, 1699, 



1701, 1703, 1708, 1709, 1716, 1717, 1719, 1722, 1723, 1724, 1729, 1731, 1733, 



1735- 1736, 1740, 1741, 1751, 1753, 1754, 1756. 



Oudemans' position is that Linnaeus chose the generic name Acarus because 



this had become classic and that the species present to his mind was the itch 



mite; further that Acarus siro permitted him to avoid tautonymy, and to his 



mind Acarus siro was consequently and basically the itch mite, and this species, 



therefore, he (Oudemans) definitely takes as type species of Acarus. 



B. Vitzthum (1927, Zool. Anz., v. 72 (3-4), June 20, pp. 115-126) reviews the 

 literature from 1758 to 1927 and arguing on basis of the International Rules 

 he concludes that Acarus siro in the sense of the itch mite is the type species of 

 Acarus and that Acarus passerinus is the type species of Sarcoptes. 



C. Several authors date Sarcoptes as 1804 or 1806; if this date be accepted 

 the designation of passerinus as type species of Sarcoptes by Latreille, iSioa, 

 p. 425, is valid, and will result in a considerable amount of confusion in nomen- 

 clature of generic, subfamily, and fam.ily names in zoology, and in considerable 

 confusion in terminology in human and veterinary medicine and pathology. 

 Under this premise the question of a Suspension of Rules comes up for con- 

 sideration. 



