190 [August. 



Rogenhofer's special name, but surely the difficulties encountered in the 

 synonymy of the imago are sufficiently great without increasing them 

 by giving additional names to preparatory stages, or even to empty leaves 

 formerly tenanted by larvae. We know so little of the life-history of 

 exotic insects that any addition to our knowledge is most welcome, but 

 it must be demanded in the interests of science that such information 

 shall be unaccompanied by new generic or special names, for it is 

 absolutely impossible to determine whether the insect requires a new 

 name until it has been bred. The time will probably come when the 

 life-histories of all the described species will have been ascertained, 

 and when preparatory stages will be readily identified as belonging to 

 l^articular Families, or perhaps even to what in that far-off time will 

 take the place of our present conception of genera, but even then it 

 will be unwise to name a larva. 



I entirely agree with Mr. McLachlan's views expressed (Ent. Mo. 

 Mag., XXV, 362) when identifying Rogenhofer's case of Fumea ? 

 Jhnuhis with the one he had himself ])reviously described but had not 

 named^ — "I then knew nothing of the larva that formed them, nor 

 of its habits. And holding the opinion that nam.es should not be 

 applied to cases or larvae only, left them nameless." 



This seems certainly the proper course to adopt when dealing with 

 preparatory stages of sufficient interest to merit description, for Mr. 

 McLachlan (in 1864?) regarded the case as that of a Phryganid, 

 Eogenhofer referred it to the JPsycliidcB, while the imago proves that 

 it is a Depressariad ! Can any argument be stronger than this against 

 the unwisdom of naming preparatory stages ? 



Chambers in the United States has described and named as be- 

 longing to the genera Lilliocolletis and Nepticula the larvse of Coleoptera 

 and Diptera. Are such names as these to be granted priority over those 

 of carefully described beetles and flics? Surely the rule — "A name may 

 be changed when it implies a false proposition which is likely to pro- 

 pagate important errors," should be extended to meet such cases, and 

 should be rigidly enforced, but should the species require a name it 

 would be better to adopt the larval name for the imago rather than 

 propose a new one. 



Hitherto I have been dealing with cases in which names have 

 been given to larvse, still worse instances are to be found in which the 

 proposer of the name was unacquainted with the insect itself in any 

 stage. An example of this kind is to bo found in the history of 

 Tinaqma hetulce, Stn. (1S90), which is antedated by Heliozela Jiavi- 

 vionicUa, Sorhagon (ISS5), described from a mine in a birch leaf. 



