the Colcojitcrous family Passalidie. 443 



external structure and some of the forms distinguished 

 by him are no doubt constant and worthy of separation, 

 but he seems not to have recognised the existence of 

 variability and based species as confidently upon single 

 specimens, even if immature or worn, as upon compared 

 series. The absence of the types of the older systematists 

 too rendered it impossible to allocate the old names 

 among the forms tabulated by him, nor did he pay much 

 attention to the indications afforded by locality, etc. A 

 further complication has been introduced by the publica- 

 tion of a number of descriptions of Central American forms 

 by Mr. T. L.Casey during the issue of Kuwert's Monograph. 



Thus the FaxiJlirs leachi of Macleay, hitherto regarded 

 as ransino; from Mexico to Brazil, has been divided into 

 six species by Kuwert and the original name assigned to 

 an insect from Guatemala, although Macleay indicates 

 the habitat of the type as " S, America." Yet another 

 name, P. 'parvus, has been bestowed upon specimens from 

 Honduras by Mr. Casey who assigns P. leachi to Brazil, 

 and distinguishes it as a larger species, although neither 

 size nor province was specified by Macleay, whose type is 

 presumably in Australia. Such work done in the dark 

 has introduced almost hopeless confusion into many parts 

 of the family. In the present instance I have been 

 unable to find any specific distinctions after carefully 

 examining a long series of specimens representing almost 

 every province from Southern Mexico to the Amazons, 

 and the range of size is not greater than that given by 

 Mr. Casey for his Honduran examples. H. W. Bates was 

 of the same opinion with regard to the Central American 

 specimens, of which Kuwert makes five species. The 

 latter's disregard for both geographical distribution and 

 the element oiivcar is curiously shown in one of these five 

 forms which he records from "Guatemala and Paramaribo,' 

 and distinguishes only by the absence of the customary 

 slight hair-tufts upon the shoulders and in the separation 

 of the five into two divisions according to the existence 

 of two or three terminal teeth to the mandible. These 

 features are valueless by themselves, since the shoulder- 

 tufts frequently and the inner teeth of the mandible almost 

 invariably, become worn down and indicate nothing but 

 the age of the individual. 



A considerable number of Kuwert's species have no 

 greater value than these, but on the other hand his 



