30 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 73 



Health Service, pp. 743-765, figs, i-ii, 1931. This printed article, a 

 copy of which is mailed to each Commissioner, is hereby included as 

 a portion of the Discussion. 



The chief points at issue are the following : 



1. Pcdicuhis vespertilionis Linn., 1758a, 611, was described as a 

 hexapod, namely, genus Pediciilus, but the most definite part of the 

 original is the inclusion of a bibliographic citation of an illustration 

 or figure of the " Fledermauss-Lauss " of Frisch, 1728; this illustra- 

 tion is clearly that of an octopod. It seems highly probable that Lin- 

 naeus actually had in mind a hexapod in addition to. this octopod of 

 Frisch, and for purposes of nomenclatorial argument this is adopted as 

 premise. 



2. Scopoli, 1763, interpreted Pcdicuhis vespertilionis as an octopod 

 and transferred the species to Acorns. This view was adopted by 

 Linnaeus, 1767. 



3. Latreille, 1796, proposed a hexapod genus Nyctcribia, with mono- 

 type " Acariis vespertilionis Linn. Fab. Pcdicuhis Linn." In 1805 

 Latreille proposed for Nycteribia vespertilionis a new specific name, 

 Nyctcribia pcdiciilaria, thus accepting the premise that Latreille's 1796 

 specimens of Nycteribia belonged to the Insecta, sensu rcstricto. The 

 species pedicularia is objective synonym of the hexapod vespertilionis 

 as of Latreille, 1796. 



In 1826 von Heyden proposed Spinturnix as a new genus in the 

 Acarines, with type by original designation " Acarus vespertilionis 

 Scop, (non Lin.)", i. e., vespertilionis Linn, of Scopoli as restricted 

 to the acarines in 1763, not the hexapod vespertilionis Linn, as of 

 Latr., 1796a, which under Art. 31, International Rules, is a dead name. 



Nyctcribia vespertilionis remained with the insects for more than 

 a century, but in 1902 Oudemans transferred Pediculus vespertilionis 

 (namely the type sj>ecies of Nycteribia) to Spinturnix (an acarine). 



4. Under a strict interpretation of the Rules as applied to the fore- 

 going premises the insect genus Nyctcribia is based on an erroneously 

 determined species, since vespertilionis, a compound species of 1758, 

 was definitely assigned to the Acarines in 1763. 



The c|uestion now arises whether Nycteribia should not be trans- 

 ferred to the Acarines, since its type species (vespertilionis) is an 

 Acarine, or whether Nycteribia should be left in the insects on the 

 ground that Latreille's specimens were insects. This brings up a con- 

 troversial point which has produced great confusion in zoology and 

 which is open to different interpretations. The most practical method 

 of settling these cases is by Suspension of the Rules, the decision in 

 each case being made upon the merits of the individual case. 



