34 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society Vol. XVI 



that this was the European Athysanus stactogalus and while I 

 was gathering these notes I received another fine pair from this 

 entomologist. I thus possess specimens labelled and identified 

 by two eminent specialists of Europe, and my American speci- 

 mens determined by both of them, and, as I am unable to find 

 any difference from their views, we all agree that our Eutettix 

 osborni Ball is a synonym of Athysanus stactogalus Fieber. 



In going over all the literature available I found that this insect 

 had quite an interesting history taxonomically, which at first 

 seems a little puzzling, owing to the specific name stactogalus oc- 

 curring with two different authors referring to the same insect, 

 Amyot and Fieber sharing the honor of authority. Not being 

 able to find an explanation for this I thought I would follow the 

 thing down through the literature and this is the result : 



Amyot in Annales de la Societe Entomologique de France (2d 

 Sen, Vol. V, p. 217), 1847, describes very briefly this insect 

 as Stactogala, ignoring the Linnsean system of binominal nomen- 

 clature, and consequently, in accordance with adopted zoological 

 rules, his singular description becomes a nomen nudum. His 

 material came from Paris, Mont de Marsan, giving no number 

 of specimens nor kind of food-plant. 



Walker, in " List of Homoptera in British Museum" (Part III, 

 p. 894), 185 1, refers to Amyot's Stactogala as Jassus with an 

 interrogation, apparently considering Stactogala synonymous with 

 Jassus, without making reference to any species whatever. 



Fieber in " Verhandlungen der K. K. Zoologisch-Botanischen 

 Gesellschaft in Wien" (p. 505, Fig. 19), 1866, realized the pre- 

 dicament and erected the genus Opsins on Amyot's Stactogala, 

 which thus became the type and only species of this genus. Since 

 Amyot's Stactogala is nomen nudum it cannot bear his authority, 

 even though we are obliged to consult his description, as Fieber 

 only paid attention to it as a genus and referred to Stactogala 

 Amyot for the species ; it must then be considered as a Fieberian 

 species, but this was not done until a long time after. 



Kirschbaum in " Die Cicadinen der Gegend von Wiesbaden und 

 Frankfurt a.M. (p. 90, No. 17), 1868, describes the very same 

 insect as Jassus (Thamnotettix) tamaricis, although he was well 

 aware of Amyot's description, for he remarks in a foot-note that 



