18 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 914 



the past, Cecidomyia has been applied in a 

 restricted sense by different students to forms 

 referable to widely separated tribes (Dasyneu- 

 riarise and Itonidinariffi) , not to mention the 

 indiscriminate use of the name for any or 

 almost any gall-making midge. It was neces- 

 sary, under the old state of affairs, to either 

 know the species or the sense in which the 

 name Cecidomyia was used in a paper before 

 one could form a definite concept of the char- 

 acters for which the term stood in that par- 

 ticular instance. The loose application of 

 this name to a thousand or more species 

 referable to over 150 genera, did not ma- 

 terially enhance the value of the word as a 

 precise scientific designation. In this instance 

 the use of the prior Itonida, which has not 

 been misapplied, savors more of common sense 

 than an attempt to put among the nomina con- 

 servanda the variously defined and loosely 

 applied Cecidomyia, even though the latter has 

 become well established and is generally used 

 in economic literature. A survey of the group 

 would show that even if Cecidomyia was re- 

 tained, it could be applied to but one genus, 

 and that would mean that the accepted gen- 

 eric name for most of the economic species 

 must of necessity be changed. Cecidomyia is 

 a valuable designation and can and should be 

 employed as the name of a biological group. 

 The gall midges may present exceptional 

 conditions. We are by no means certain that 

 the strict application of the law of priority 

 means more incumbrances and difficulties than 

 the establishment of nomina conservanda. 

 Many of the changes necessitated by the law 

 of priority have been made. Shall we reverse 

 ourselves? If so, how many will accept this 

 change of attitude and to what extent shall we 

 go ? If " weU-established " or " long-used " 

 names are desirable, how shall we select these? 

 Is usage by the biologist, general zoologist, 

 taxonomist, the economic entomologist or the 

 agriculturist to determine which shall be em- 

 ployed? Further study will inevitably result 

 in closer generic definition. Shall we recog- 

 nize Cecidomyia as a valid genus with de- 

 structor Say as type because this is the more 

 important agricultural species — and it is the 



practical entomologist who has done most to 

 make this name current, or accept pini DeGeer 

 as type and be compelled to use a less familiar 

 term in economic literature? 



In other words, the establishment of nomina 

 conservanda may fix the generic term and 

 designate the type, only to find later that the 

 latter is not cogeneric with the species which 

 has made the generic name common property. 

 This is strikingly shown by referring to a few 

 of the well-known American forms which prob- 

 ably would have been changed even if nomina 

 conservanda had been in existence. The fol- 

 lowing are a few well-known species which 

 have been shifted from one genus to another 

 because of a more correct generic definition: 



2Egeria exitiosa, now Sanninoidea, 



Arctia Isabella, now Isia, 



Orgyia leucostigma, now Memerocampa, 



Anisopteryx pometaria, now Alsophila, 



A. vernata, now Paleacrita, 



Incwvaria acerifoliella, now Faraclemensia. 



The above names have been widely current 

 as well as many others now relegated to syn- 

 onymy, and their retention is impossible unless 

 generic limitations are broadened, and then it 

 would be necessary to harmonize very wide 

 divergencies of opinion. Has any one an ade- 

 quate notion as to just how much relief would 

 be afforded by the establishment of nomina 

 conservanda? Is there not a possibility that 

 the benefits supposed to accrue therefrom have 

 been greatly overestimated? 



Finally, has sufficient time elapsed to permit 

 a determination of the wisdom or unwisdom 

 of a strict adherence to the law of priority? 

 Can we assure ourselves that a comfortable 

 adjustment to existing conditions is impossible 

 for most individuals? 



E. P. Felt 



Albany, N. Y., 

 May 10, 1912 



HERMAPHRODITE SHAD IN THE DELAWARE 



Instances of hermaphroditism occur occa- 

 sionally in the shad (Alosa sapidissima) taken 

 during the spring in our fisheries, though they 

 are usually so infrequent as to arouse the 

 curiosity of the fishermen. I know of two 



