290 / [Dec 



•■ ENTOMO LOGICA L NEWS. 



rriie C'onductoiK ot ExToMouoGiCAi. News solicit and will thank fully receive 

 Items of news likely to Interest its readers from any source. The author's name 

 will be given in eji«-li case, for the information of cataloguers and bibliograph- 

 ers.] 



To ContHbut'WH — All contributions will be considered and passed upon at 

 our earliest coiveiiience, an^d, as far as may be, will be published according to 

 dat« of reception. F:.vtomoi-ogical Nkw.s has reached a circulation, both in 

 numbers and cii<'umference, as to make it necessary to put "copv" into the 

 luinds of the i>i inter for each number three weeks before date of issue. This 

 should he rem inhered In sending special or important matter for a certain 

 issue. Iwenty-tlve "extras," without change in form, will Ije given free, when 

 they are wanted; and this should be so stated on the MS., along with the num- 

 ber desired. The receipt of all papers will be acknowledged. — Kd. 



Philadelphia, Pa., December, 1899. 



The object of describiijg new species of insects is to make 

 them known to the scientific world, but this fundamental 

 pnuciple in many cases seems to be overlooked by some of our 

 systematists who describe as species such slight variations, 

 tu'oughf about by distribution, climate or other causes, iiiid 

 frequeutly from such insutticient material as to make it (juitc 

 impossible to know what they have in mind or what they 

 mean by their descriptions. Perhaps the entomologist of tlie 

 future will be ;ll)eing who spends all his spare time and money 

 wandering over the earth seeking types. Some day, perhaps, 

 these names that have crejit and unfortunately will creep into 

 our future lists of species Mill be weeded out, but at the ex- 

 pense of much valuable time aiid study, and it would have 

 been better had they never been described. Where there is 

 the slighest doubt about a single specimen supposed to be new 

 it would be far better to wait for adequate material than to 

 rush into print and make a synonym. More tiuie should Vk' 

 gi ven to careful collecting through a series of years with accu- 

 rate data on all specimens particularly in one locality. If this 

 wei-e done many interesting problems could be solve* I. Dur- 

 ing the past summer one of our subscribers spent considejable 

 time collecting certain species, and his work shows conclu- 

 sively that tAvo names will have to be merged into one. This 

 is more scientific and useful than constructing two names out 

 of nothing. Instead of the individual going arouud seeking 

 types another plan might be inaugurated, and that is build- 

 ing a cairn wIumc the n. sp. is taken and putting all the in 

 foi'mation, etc., in a steel tube which should have a screw ca|) 

 ;iii(t bchnricd in thc<-;urn for the information of all students. 



