IV 
INTRODUCTION 
development in the field of their special interest. And lastly, the student 
of taxonomy should be relieved of the burden of searching for past re- 
cordings, and the journals which publish taxonomic papers should not 
have to pay the cost of publishing the past records and duplicating the 
synonymy that is already well known. Thus it would be necessary only 
to record synonymy which has been developed since the publication of 
the catalogue. 
The notes which follow the references are generally self-explanatory, 
but three points may be mentioned here. Such notations as “[described],” 
“[notes],” “[key],” and the like are intended to be suggestive rather than 
precise or exclusive. The notation “[error]” means not accepted in this 
catalogue. Usually the latest published synonymy is accepted, but not 
always. The notation “[comparative note]” is used to designate those 
references, often of the greatest taxonomic significance, in which two 
generic, specific, or other groups are compared. All references have been 
checked against the original save those marked with an asterisk (*), 
which have been accepted from reliable sources. Every effort has been 
made to have the references full and complete and to give an indication 
of the character of the data contained. Where the writers know that re- 
prints have been issued with different pagination, this is indicated in 
parentheses following the page numbers of the original. In a few cases, 
where the matter has been reprinted under a different title with different 
pagination, separate references are given. Where authentic editions have 
been republished these have been indicated by separate references. Genera 
established without included species have been dated from their original 
description, with their type fixation dated at the earliest time the action 
can logically be interpreted to have occurred. Original spellings have 
been retained in all cases, except obvious typographical errors. Typo- 
graphical errors are indicated by placing “[sic]” after the misspelled 
name. This is not for the purpose of calling attention to the mistakes 
authors have made but to make certain that students following the cata- 
logue have a clear understanding of what is implied. 
The determination of obvious typographical errors is not always easy. 
These errors range all the way from clearly apparent transpositions of 
letters, to misspelled names of individuals, geographical names, and many 
others of like character. However, so many generic names have been 
formed by the transposition and substitution of letters that one is often 
at a loss to know which names are misspelled and which are not. For 
example, Neokolla and Keonolla, or Alebra, Elabra, and Eualebra. 
All variations in spelling save those which refer to endings only are 
appropriately cross-referred. The species have also been listed under 
