424 INSECTA MADERENSIA. 



Genus 138. PHYMATODES. 



Mulsant, Longic. de France, 47 (1840). 



Corpus sat magnum, elongatum, parallelum, piibescens, depressum : capite subpon-ecto ; uculis valde 

 emarginatis (subluniformibus) : prothorace insequali parvo, tuberculis obscuris aucto : alls amplis. 

 Antenna ad margiuem oculorum internum insertfe, longissimfe (prfesertim in maribus), setacese, 

 articulis basUaribus setis paucis ad apicem instructis, articulo primo robusto, secundo brevissimo, 

 reliquis longitudine subfequalibus, latitudine leviter decrescentibus. Labrum tenuissimo-mem- 

 branaceum transversum, pilis longissimis munitum, apice rotundatum integrum et in medio 

 pencillatum. Mandihula validaj, basi latie, apice corner valde incurva; acutissimse, intus ante 

 medium dente obtuso instructje. Maxilla bilobae membranaceae, lobis valde pubescentibus 

 pencOlatis. Palpi elongati parum graciles subclavati ; maxillares articulo primo minuto, secundo 

 et ultimo longitudine subfequalibus (hoc subsecuriformi), tertio paulo breviore ; labiales e scapis 

 ligulffi connatis sm-gentes, articulo primo vix parvo, secundo paulo longiore, ultimo elongato 

 crasso subsecurifoiini. Mentum corneum breve transversum, apice fere integrum. Ligula brevis 

 membranacea apice biloba, lobis divergentibus pilosis. Pedes elongati : femorilms basi peduncu- 

 latis, apicem versus subito et valde clavatis. 



In point of priority, Merhtm, established in the Fauna Boreali-Americana (in 

 1837), is the oldest title for the present genus ; and, since Kirby expressly there 

 .states that the CalUdinm varlabUe of Fabricius may be regarded as the type, we 

 should have been comjicUed under ordinary circumstances, notwithstanding the 

 unimportant feature selected as the sum total of his diagnosis (namely, the clava- 

 tion of the thighs, Avhich is common to so many of the allied groups), to have 

 retained that name, — ^even though it be usually ignored by recent entomologists. 

 A more serious objection however lies in the fact that a 3Ieriam and Jleria did 

 jn-eviously exist (of which Kirby could not have been aware) : and, since even 

 these infringe too closely on the Linmcan prohibition (vid. Philosophia Botanica, 

 no. 228) against genera " simUi sono exeuntia " (a rule stUl insisted ujion by the 

 laws of nomenclature), it is clear that to add a Merium to the list is only to per- 

 petuate confusion, and that we have consequently a legitimate reason for dis- 

 cardmg it altogether, — a step which the unsatisfactory natvu'c of the character on 

 which it was originally founded will not cause us to regret*. Regarding the 

 peculiarities of Fhymatodes, apart from its more flattened, less densely pul^esccnt 

 surface, and its extremely clavated femora, it may be kno\Mi both from the 



• Dr. Le Conte indeed, in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, rejects the 

 name of Merium on account of the iusuflicieut value of the character on wliich the genus was estabhshed : 

 but it seems to me that we can hardly admit such a principle without opening the door to a host of 

 difficulties wliich its adoption would at once let in upon us ; since it is certain that many of the groups 

 ■which are now universally received were at first indicated in ahnost as loose and general a maimer as 

 Kirby's, — and by sanctioning it therefore we Should in fact be sacrificing the law of priority to individual 

 judgment, .and resigning the necessity of retaining the fii-st proposed names of genera to the mere option 

 of succeeding naturalists, according as they may choose to regard the attendant diagnoses to be satisfac- 

 tory or not (a standard which, as science advances, must of course vary witli almost everj- consecutive 

 age). 



