THE NATIONAL COLLECTION OF COCCID^. 7 



in this country have given their types, or at least cotypes, to the Na- 

 tional Collection. Among this material are the species described by 

 Newell, King, Sanders, Tinsley, Johnson, Townsend, Cooley, Cole- 

 man, and Woglum. Cotypes of the greater number of Green's ori- 

 ental species have also been most kindly presented by him to the Na- 

 tional Collection, making a large and very valuable addition. Co- 

 typical or authentic material representing many of the new species 

 of other foreign workers in the family has been received in exchange 

 or by gift, including a considerable percentage of Maskell's species 

 and those of later students, notably Hempel. 



The collection now includes, besides much unidentified material, 

 representatives of 1,072 species of Coccidse, of which 816 are types or 

 cotypes. Of these 366 belong to the subfamily Diaspinse, with 293 

 types ; and 706 to the non-diaspine scales, with 523 types. The de- 

 scribed Coccidse of the w^orld now reach a total of nearly 1,600, but 

 of these, from the critical studies which have been in progress now 

 for several years, it seems likely that at least one-third will fall as 

 synonyms, leaving perhaps a thousand valid species. A correspond- 

 ing proportion of the type and other material in the National Collec- 

 tion of Coccidse will fall as synonyms. Nevertheless, the figures given 

 indicate a collection of extraordinary richness and value in its accumu- 

 lation of species and types. In working out synonymy the type 

 specimens of the synonyms, together with the material referred to 

 these synonyms by the describers or later workers of authority, are 

 kept together, so that they can be easily referred to should any ques- 

 tion arise as to their status. 



METHODS OF STUDY. 



A very large amount of laborious preliminary work has been done 

 which makes no showing, but in the course of this work those who are 

 actively conducting it have gained such a familiaritj^ with the subject 

 and so broad an acquaintance with the different genera that it should 

 now^ be possible for them to monograph the material far more sat- 

 isfactorily and accurately than ever before. The opj)ortunity noAV 

 had for comparison of types leads necessarily to the discovery of a 

 large amount of synonymy, and the task of weighing and definiteh^ 

 ascertaining the status of older work is now in progress and repre- 

 sents the most difficult part of the undertaking, although a necessary 

 preliminary to the description of new species and the monographing 

 of genera. 



In attempting to make determinations from published descriptions 

 the inadequacy of the characterizations was at once felt, through no 

 fault, however, of the early describers, who followed the customary 

 methods of the time, just as the descriptions of this day may similarly 



