PART III 

 ANIMAL PAR ASITO LOGY 



CHAPTER XV 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS OF CLASSIFICATION AND 



METHODS 



ANIMALS that are in all respects alike we term a Species. Of course 

 the male and female of a species may be very unlike, but as a result of 

 mating they produce young having characteristics similar to the 

 parents. Now, if, as in the case of the mosquitoes causing yellow fever, 

 we find some with straight silvery lines and others uniformly showing 

 crescentic silvery bands about thorax, yet resembling each other closely 

 in the respect of being dark, brilliantly marked mosquitoes, we should 

 consider them as being separate species with a certain relationship 

 to which the term Genus is applied. 



The term "genus" is of wider application than the word "species." Thus 

 animals which agree in the main characteristics of size, proportion of parts, and 

 general structure are placed in the same genus. 



In naming a species we always first write the name of the genus 

 which has a Greek or Latin name, commencing with a capital, and 

 follow with the specific name, which latter commences with a small 

 letter. Thus we designate the dark silver-marked mosquitoes as 

 belonging to the genus Stegomyia; those showing the characteris- 

 tics of curved silver bands and two central parallel lines (lyre pat- 

 tern) on dorsal surface of thorax we designate as Stegomyia calopus; 

 the species with only the straight silver lines we call Stegomyia 

 scutellaris. 



The specific name may be a noun in the genitive. If an adjective it must agree in 

 gender with the generic name. 



It is permissible to have a masculine noun as a specific name with a feminine 

 generic name. 



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