272 Mr. J. Curtis's Remarks on Synonymes of Acanthosoma. 



or of the general colour of the insect. A portion only of the 

 body above is black, the apex being green or ochreous to a con- 

 siderable extent ; and whilst the rows of black dots beneath are 

 distinct enough in^. dentatum, they are not to be found mA.pic- 

 tipenne in my specimens. If this view of the species be correct, 

 one of Mr. Newman's names must be retained; and as picta has 

 been employed by Fabricius for another insect, I have restored 

 the name of pictipenne. 



Our species, Acanthosoma griseum, Linn., agrees well with the 

 description in the Fauna Suecica, " Abdomen lateribus albo ni- 

 groque varius, alls nebulosis,"* but it is far otherwise with his C. 

 intricatus, of which he says, " Abdominis lateribus rubro nigroque 

 variis, alis albidis;" and in his more ample description he again 

 says, " Alae albae diaphanae," alluding no doubt to the membrane 

 of the elytra. And what follows shows that it must be a different 

 species from ours, namely, " Color dorsi sub alis ruber (quo 

 manifeste a precedente (C. grisea) differt, qui niger et viridis), 

 versus basin nigra lata macula, versusque anura lineis transversis 

 nigris, praesertim ad abdominis latera." 



I have never seen a specimen of A. griseum partaking of such 

 characters. And the " ano rosea" of Fabricius's C. agathinus 

 but ill accords with the Linnean A. grisea; nevertheless I believe 

 it is intended for that species. 



The confusion occasioned by Fabricius's careless references 

 to figures, together with the incorrect nomenclature of Wolff and 

 Panzer, has created such obstacles to a uniformity of names, that 

 it is not surprising if even those well versed in such matters 

 should often be at fault ; but this very defect lias led to greater 

 precision, and if we only adhere to that just and sound principle 

 in nomenclature, the right of priority, with the tact and energy 

 which are now manifest in discussing this most important branch 

 of natural history, the day, it is to be hoped, is not far distant, 

 when, instead of our pages being encumbered with synonymes 

 and doubts, we shall see every family as readily recognized by in- 

 dividual names as are our Papilio?iidce.f 



* Fauna Suec. p. 248, No. 926. 



t Ten years after the genus Acanthosoma had been characterized and figured, 

 and after it had been adopted by Laporte and Burmeister, Hahn published it 

 with the name of Cli7iocoris, aod represented the tarsi as triarticulate ! 



