NO. 1687. '/'///•; Tifoii.ix or /.v.s7;r7'.s— N.vozx/A'.hSAS. 545 



having based scheinos of general nomenclature upon some one form 

 which happens to j^ossess a i^rominent individual peculiarity. 



Jurine (1820) first described in Xylocopa ciolacea the sclerites of 

 the Aving base and gave them individual names. The first he called 

 ihe (J rand Jiumcnd in the front wing and the scutellaire in the hind 

 wing; the second the i)et'it iLumeml in the front wing and the dia- 

 demed in the hind ; the third the petit cubital in the -front Aving and 

 the fiifcJiii in the hind; the fourth the iiarlndalre which occurs in the 

 fore wing only of Xylocopa. 



In the same year Chabrier (1820) described the axillary sclerites 

 of MelolontJia culgark and named the three principal ones the 

 humerus^ the omoplate^ and the onguiculaire^ respectively. 



The axillaries were next described by Sti'aus-Diirckheim (1828) in 

 M elolontha vulgaris. He called them collectively the epauliereH in 

 the elytrum and the axillalres in the hind wing, while he designated 

 the individual sclerites numerically according to their order in each 

 case. In the Aving base of M elolontha there are four sclerites, but one 

 of these is an accessory plate not represented in other forms, while 

 the fourth of Orthoptera and Hymenoptera is not present. Hence 

 the individual designations of anterior, second, third, and fourth 

 axillaries used by Straus-Diirckheim can not be consistently applied 

 in the various orders, the third in the M elolontha series being an 

 extra piece. 



Amans (1885) made a comparative study of the w4ng articulation 

 in all the insect orders. He recognized three proximal articular 

 sclerites which he named individually the slyniolde^ the median, and 

 the terminal, while he designated as retro-median the distal median 

 l)late or jjlate^. He accurately described all of them and their re- 

 lations to surrounding parts. Little can be added to his account. 



LoAvne (1892) in studying the blowfly called the first axillary the 

 dens, the second the vngvirvhis, and two parts of the third the meta- 

 pteryglum and deltoid. 



Voss (1905) in describing the external anatomy of Gryllus donies- 

 flcitfi has given the best detailed account of any one species. Unfor- 

 tunately, ho w^ ever, the cricket does not afford a typical example of 

 the subject. Although Voss includes in his excellent paper a review 

 of the wing articulation in all the orders, yet he bases his scheme and 

 system of nomenclature on Gryllus, in some species of w^hich the first 

 axillary sclerite is divided into two. This same condition occurs also 

 in some of the Locustida\ but, as far as the writer has observed, is 

 confined to the Locustida) and the Gryllida^, and is not constant in 

 either of these families. It certainly can not be regarded as typical. 

 However, the fourth primary axillar}^ is present in Gryllus, and 

 Voss's nomenclature is as follows: The two parts of the first axil- 

 lary and the fourth, which articulate the wing to the back, are named 

 Proc.X.M.vol.xxxvi— 09 35 



