

April, '07] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 117 



port was now abandoned and additional material sought for. 

 usual, the collections proved poor in the common species, 

 but from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the 

 Brooklyn Institute Museum, the American Museum of Natural 

 History, the Children's Museum of Brooklyn, the U. S. 

 National Museum at Washington, and from Messrs. W. T. 

 Davis and E. Daecke we obtained series that enabled us to 

 separate our species very nicely. 



It became necessary now to determine the form to which 

 Linne's term should be applied, and here another surprise was 

 in store for us. The description of course fitted almost any 

 Cicada; and the only pointer given by Linne himself was the 

 reference to Merian's Surinam, pi. 49, where we found a fair 

 figure of a species totally different in appearance from what 

 we had been calling tibiccn. Running down the literature to 

 ascertain hoii' the species came to be identified with our Ameri- 

 can type, we found that it rests upon a casual statement of 

 Stal. The whole matter is interesting enough to warrant 

 detail and both authors have been over some of the volumes to 

 make sure of the facts. 



On the occasion of a recent visit to Washington, Mr. O. 

 Heideman was good enough to show me the Cicada material 

 from Central and South America, and there is nowhere any 

 specimen that could be mistaken for our so-called tibicen, while 

 there are several of a type resembling Madame Merian's figure 

 and among which I feel very confident the true tibicen may be 

 identified. Mr. Heideman also showed me the works of Mr. 

 Di.-tant, and called my attention to the fact that in the "Bio- 

 logia" tibicen was included only on the authority of Stal and 

 not from any material identified with that species. 



C. tibicen was described by Linne in the Syst. Nat. ed., X, 

 p. 426, in the most general terms; the Merian figure already 

 cited was referred to, and "Habitat in America" was added 

 for locality. In 1767, in the 12th edition of the same work, 

 \ "1. I, pt. 2, the description and reference were repeated and 

 nothing was added to modify the original statement as to 

 locality. 



In 1775. Fabricius in the Syst. Ent., 679, places the Cicada 



