552 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.40. 



Family SCOLIIDJE. 

 Genus SCOLIA Fabricius. 



Type. — Scolia quadripunctata Fabricius (Latreille, 1810). 



Mr. C. Schrottky has 1 contended that the type of the genus Scolia 

 Fabricius is Scolia atrata Fabricius. Scolia atrata was the first species 

 included and according to the system used by Saussure and Sichel 2 

 belongs to Elis. In stating that the type of Scolia is atrata Fabricius, 

 Schrottky adheres to the antiquated first-species rule. This ad- 

 herence is unfortunate, as the idea has been entirely done away with 

 by most systematists in all groups of animals, as well as being ruled 

 against by the International Congress of Zoological Nomenclature. 



The genus Scolia as originally defined by Fabricius 3 included 10 

 species. The eighth species, Scolia quadripunctata Fabricius, was 

 chosen as the type by Latreille in 18 10. 4 No older designation of 

 type for this genus is known to the writer, therefore Scolia quadri- 

 punctata Fabricius is considered the type of the genus Scolia Fabricius. 



Other designations of the type of Scolia are Scolia jlavifrons Fabri- 

 cius by Bingham (1897) and Ashmead (1903). 



Family ELIID^. 

 Genus ELIS Fabricius. 



Type. — Elis sexcincta Fabricius (Bingham, 1897). 



Mr. R. E. Turner 5 places the genus Plesia Jurine as a synonym of 

 Elis Fabricius; the types of the two genera involved show that this 

 view is correct. Colonel Bingham in 1897 6 fixed as the type of the 

 genus Elis Fabricius Elis sexcincta, the first species originally included 

 in the genus; 7 W. H. Ashmead 8 fixed as the type of Plesia Jurine 

 Tiphia namea Fabricius, a species originally included. Elis sexcincta 

 Fabricus and Tiphia namea Fabricus are congeneric, so the synonymy 

 is: 



Elis Fabricius, Syst.. Piez., 1804, p. 248, n. 46. 

 Plesia Jurine, Nonv. meth. class. Hym., 1807, p. 150. 



i Deutsche Ent. Zeit., vol. 2, March, 1910, p. 19G. 



2 Cat. des species gen. Scolia, 1864. 



a Syst. ent., 1775, p. 355, n. 111. 



4 Considerations Generates sur L'Ordre Naturel des Crustaces Arachnides et Insects. 



6 Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (8), vol. 4, Sept., 1909, p. 165. 



6 Fauna Brit. India Hym., vol. 1, p. 89. 



i C Schrottky, Deutsche Ent. Zeit., vol. 2, March, 1910, p. 197, also uses this type. 



s Can. Ent., 1903, p. 5. 



