LES MÉLASIDES DU CANADA 125 
gus subsinatus Lec. Enfin, Amelastes Druryi Kir. a ceci de 
particulier que, seul, le male a le premier article des tarses 
postérieurs fimbrié en dessous. 
Ces différences, sans doute, ne sont pas très sensibles à 
l'œil nu, à cause de la petitesse de ces insectes; mais sous la 
loupe, et surtout sous le verre du microscope, elles sont 
aussi frappantes que celles qui existent entre le male et la 
femelle de Monohammus confusor Kir., Ontophagus heca- 
te Pauz., Ceruchus piceus Web., ou Boltotherus bifurcus 
Fab. 
IV. PHYLOGÉNIE 
Dans son étude sur l'évolution et la taxonomie ‘, John 
Henry Comstock écrivait : “It is now thirty four years 
since the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species; and 
the great war of opinions which had been imminent for 
some time, and which broke forth on the appearance of 
that work, has been fought to a conclusion. There remains 
no contest except that of a healthy competition in reaping 
the fruits of the victory. Naturalists differ in their opinions 
as to details; but the great principle of evolution has been 
firmly established, and our methods of thought have been 
revolutionized in consequence. Notwithstanding this, I do 
not believe that the systematists of to-day are making as 
much use of the theory of descent in taxonomic work as 
they might. We are still busy describing species as if they 
were immutable entities; and in our descriptions we give 
little thought to the causes that have determined the forms 
of organisms. It is true that considerable has been done in 
1. Evolution and Taxonomy, an Essay on the Application of the 
Theory of natural selection in the classification of Animals and Plants. 
Ithaca, N. V. 1893. 
