Amalopis Hol. (O . S.) versus Tricypliona Bergr. (not Zeit). 153 



Section. I have preferred however to render justice to Haliday's 

 perspicacitj, in attributing to him the priority in foreshadowing the 

 Section Amalopina. 



Such is the history of the introduction of the scientific concept 

 of the genus Amalopis and of the Section Amalopina. Now when 

 we turn to the long generic description of Tricyphona (Dipt. Sc. 

 X, p. 4035) which, according to Bergroth, justifies its right of pri- 

 ority o\er Amalopis. we do not find a single one of the charac- 

 teristic features of the Amalopina. as defined above, mentioned in 

 it. The truth is that Zetterstedt himself vvould not have recognized 

 as Tricyphonae, the Amalopina provided with a discal cell, 

 which Bergroth seenis anxious to force upon him. I strongly suspect, 

 for instance, that the Limnobia varinervis Zett., Dipt. Sc. X, p. 

 3813, is an Amalopis, although the description does not offer me 

 sufficient data for being sure of it (comp. O.S. in the Berl. E. Z. 

 1887, p. 224). 



Such well-matured conclusions of mine about the relation between 

 Tricypliona Zett. and 4maZo/u's Hai. (O.S.) Bergroth characterizes 

 (1. c.;i as the „greatest arbitrariness" (grösste Willkür^, and adds the 

 following flourish: „If the principle applied byO.S. to Tricyphona 

 were generally adopted, thousands of names would have to give 

 place to younger ones." 



Before dismissing the subject of Tricyphona, I shall, for com- 

 pleteness' sake, communicate some data about the first description 

 of Tricypona (Ins. Läpp. p. 851, p. 1840) Avhich, as Dr. Bergroth 

 Said 1. c. p. 198, was not accessible to him when he wrote 

 his article of 1888. This description contains nothing of impor- 

 tance, except that, in describing the venation, Zetterstedt gave more 

 prominence to the three forks, than he did in the Dipt. Scand.: 

 „Nervi 7 longitudinales marginem inferiorem attingunt, quorum 4 

 superiores (a marginis interioris basi numerati) furcas duas formant. 



Supra has, tertia furca observatur elongata. Areola nulla 



Faunae nostrae communis Limnobiae valde affinis, sed nervorum 

 singulari directione, areolaqua nulla, dignota. Nomen Triciphonae 

 (sie!) a T^eTs, three, and y.vfcov, furcifer, ob nervorum in alis direc- 

 tionem, tres furcas propinquas formantem, mutuavi). " This passage 

 proves again that the three forks, dependent on the absence of 

 the discal cell, and expressed in the etymology of the name, were 

 the principal characters which induced Zetterstedt to introduce his 

 new genus. The Statement, in the Ins. Läpp., „tibiae vix vel bre- 

 vissime calcaratae" is more near the truth than the correspondiug 



