54 AMERICAN HYMENOPTERA. 



The Genus Enicospilus was first proposed by Stephens in 

 his Catalogue of British Insects, p. 352, 1829 — with a single 

 species, E. simulator ; no description of E. simulator can be 

 found and it evidently never passed the manuscript stage. 

 Both genus and species, being new and without descriptions, 

 stand as nomina nuda. In 1835 the Genus Enicospilus was 

 again proposed in Stephens' Illustrations of British Entomo- 

 logy, Mandibulata, VII, September 30, p. 126, and this time 

 it was characterized in a table. A colored figure, by West- 

 wood, was given on a plate stamped " Published Sept. 30, 

 1835," but it seems to have been published in the part* dated 

 October 31, 1835, and so far as I can learn no name or de- 

 scription was given to this figure till the part published 

 November, 1845, t when it was given in the list of plates as 

 Enicospilus merdarius Grav.l 



This was a well-known species of OpJiion described in 1829' 

 and as a species is thus designated, the genus Enicospilus 

 Stephens must stand as established in November, 1845, with 

 Enicospilus merdarius Grav. as type. It is evident that the 

 figure — PL 40, fig. 4 — is not merdarius, and Stephens recog- 

 nized his mistake when he published the description — Suppl., 

 Aug., 1846 — of E. merdarius, ramidzilus and combustus, and 

 stated that the figure is E. combustus Grav. The figure dif- 

 fers markedly from the description of E. merdarius but 

 agrees with that of E. combustus, and must stand as such. 

 This fact does not, however, affect the validity of E. mer- 

 darius Grav. as generic type. Ashmead for some reason 

 unknown to me credits this genus to Curtis. 



Orthography. — Considerable confusion has arisen over the 

 orthography of the generic name, and it has been spelled 

 Enicospilus, Henicospilus and Eniscopilus. This confusion is 

 partly due to the derivation of the name — from Wkos, unicus ; 

 o-iriXos, macula. Stephens spelled the name Enicospilus, but 

 apparently overlooked the aspirate 'e which would make the 



* Stephens' Illustr. Brit. Ent. was published serially. 



t Westwood states, Brit. Ent., I, Appendix, p. 60, in 1840, that 

 this figure, plate 40, fig. 4, is evidently intended for a species of the 

 Genus Enicospilus , of which the species is not indicated. 



t Gravenhorst, Ichn. Europ., Ill, p. 698, n. 138, 9 cf , 1829. 



