22 



COLEOPTEKA OF INDIANA. 



changed for some good reason by the describe* himself. Of course 

 it often happens that the author of a supposed new species is wrong 

 in his conclusions, and that it has been described before under an- 

 other name not recognized by him. In such a case his name is but a 

 synonym and has no scientific standing. 



In the name Lachno sterna rugosa the specific name rugosa cor- 

 responds to the given name as "John" or "James," and the generic 

 term Lad hno sterna to the sur- or family name, as "Smith" or 

 "Jones." The name given the beetle is therefore of the same na- 

 ture as that given a man, but is in Latin and is written backward, 

 as Smith John. There may be any number of species of Lachno- 

 sterna, but there can only be one of them named rugosa. The gen- 

 eric name is always begun with a capital letter and the specific 

 name with a small letter, this being the common usage among zoolo- 

 gists in general. 



The generic and specific names usually have some well-defined 

 meaning, "La&nosterna" in the case mentioned, being derived 

 from two Greek words meaning "wool + breast," as most species of 

 that genus have the sternum or breast more or less covered with 

 wool-like hairs. The specific name rugosa means ' ' rough, ' ' and was 

 given the beetle on account of the wrinkles on the elytra. After the 

 generic headings in the pages which follow, the date on which the 

 genus was first proposed by its author, and the derivation or mean- 

 ing of the generic name is, in most instances, given. 



A group of genera, having certain characters in common, com- 

 prises a "tribe" or "subfamily," and these in turn are merged into 

 larger assemblages called families. Our beetles are so little known 

 that as yet but few of them have common names. When such a 

 name is well established it is mentioned in connection with the spe- 

 cific description. However, the species of each family have usually 

 one or more common names which are applied to them collectively, 

 as "tiger beetles" for the Cicindelidae, and these names are always 

 given under the family heading. 



Keys of the Catalogue. In order that the student may deter- 

 mine the more readily the scientific name for himself, "keys" or 

 "tables of determination" are made an important part of the work. 

 These are, when necessary, for families, subfamilies, tribes, genera 

 and species in the order named. When there are but two species 

 belonging to a genus the specific key is usually omitted. These keys 

 contain, for the most part, a few of the more salient or easily recog- 

 nized characters separating the genera or species. In most in- 

 stances, to avoid repetition, these characters are not again given in 



