48 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, 



etc., is rather for purposes of convenience than as statements of 

 absolute differences. 



Groups of species form genera. A genus cannot be easily de- 

 fined, even in the imperfect way in which we have defined a spe- 

 cies. All the species belonging to the same genus possess certain 

 structural characters in common. 



Groups of genera form families; groups of families form or- 

 ders; groups of orders form classes. Two classes differ from 

 each other by characters more widely different than those which 

 divide two orders, and so on down the scale. Intermediate 

 groups, such as subclasses, between classes and orders ; suborders, 

 between orders and families; subfamilies, between families and 

 genera ; and subgenera, between genera and species, are also 

 employed in classification. A tribe is a division sometimes placed 

 between a family and a subfamily; sometimes between a famih' 

 and an order. 



The scientific nomenclature employed for insects (as for all 

 animals and plants) is to give to each species two names of either 

 Greek or Latin form. Thus, the name of the Honey Bee is Apis 

 -mellifica. The first name is generic, the second specific. A fa- 

 miliar comparison is that which likens the generic name to a per- 

 son's surname, the specific name to his individual, or Christian 

 name. This binomial nomenclature is dated from the time of 

 Carl von Linn6 (Linnaeus, b. 1707, d. 1778), the great Swedish 

 systematist. Linux's genera, in very many cases, correspond to 

 our present families, or even suborders. The constant discovery 

 of species unknown to Linn6, rendered his genera large and un- 

 wieldy, and revealed characters for the subdivision of his genera 

 into smaller genera. The abbreviated name of the author who 

 first proposed the name of the insect in question, usually follows 

 the specific name. Although usage in this respect varies, it is 

 best that the author's name should be that of him who first gave 

 the specific name, regardless of the genus in which he placed it. 



It has frequently happened that the same species of insect has 

 received several specific names from different authors, due to such 

 causes as the insufficiency of previous descriptions, describing 

 two dissimilar sexes of the same species as different species, ig- 

 norance of the existence of previous descriptions, insufficiency 

 of the characters given as separating two species at one time 

 presumed to be distinct, etc. In such cases the name of the spe- 



