86 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



required to bring these insects to maturity, if the statements, 

 regarding their appearance in the imago state some years 

 after timber had been laid down as flooring, are credible. — 

 J. R. S. Clifford. 



Priority in Nomenclature. — What do we mean by the 

 prior name of an insect ? A fop], so it is said, may sometimes 

 strike upon a thought which a wise man misses; and, without 

 setting myself down as the former, 1 venture to think that I 

 may point out a circumstance which has escaped the notice 

 of some, at least, of our entomological dons, upon whom falls 

 the duty of giving names to new species, and admitting 

 alterations in nomenclature. The first name of an insect is 

 surely not always the first actually applied to it in order of 

 time, but the first which has received a certain measure of 

 recognition from other students. To illustrate this by an 

 instance allied to it in human life: — a name given to a child, 

 to be valid, must pass through due formalities, and thus 

 gains acceptance ; while a familiar name, though actually 

 conferred earlier, is not regarded beyond the household. It 

 is a question, as it seems to me, whether we ought to permit 

 the displacement of a name which an insect has borne many 

 years, undisputed, because it is discovered that some entomo- 

 logist, living in a state of isolation perhaps, had, at an earlier 

 period, designated it differently. Usage ought to stamp 

 permanence on a name after years have elapsed : but if 

 recent alterations amongst the Lepidoptera are to be carried 

 out amongst the other orders of insects in a manner somewhat 

 similar, very much of our entomological literature of the past 

 will be rendered perplexing or obscure. One of the strongest 

 argiuuents which has been urged in favour of Latin names, as 

 opposed to vernacular, is that of their general recognition 

 amongst scientific men of all countries. But at this moment 

 it seems as if their permanence was in some danger ; and, as 

 aliases multipl}^ the detection of a fugitive species will 

 become more difficult to all entomologists, no matter of what 

 nationality they may be. — Id. 



Gloic-uorm in March. — The adult female glow-worm is 

 generally seen only in summer. I scarcely like to venture an 

 opinion when I have not seen the objects to which my 

 correspondent refers. I stated in the ' Zoologist,' many 

 years back, that the glow-worm emitted its phophorescent 



