George C. Steyskal

The Mistreatment of the Latin Genitive Case in Forming Names of Parasites

A number of cases of specific names of animals of various groups, formed with an incorrect genitive ending, or without a genitive ending when one might better have been used, are cited; correct forms are given, and the whole subject is discussed. An addition to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is recommended and a plea made for more care in forming names. The decline of classicism in recent years has brought us to the point where a zoologist, at least in the United States, can complete university training without having to know the meaning and use of the genitive case in Latin. It is therefore of small wonder that the application of Article ll.g.i.3 and 4 of the Code, covering 2 of the 4 kinds of permissible specific names, is far from con-

A Note on Seioptera importans (Diptera: Otitidae)

A male specimen in the U. S. National Museum collections from “C. Chile, A. Faz” agrees in most respects with the description of Seioptera importans Hennig (1941, p. 74), from the same locality and collector, but differs in a few important details. The apical third of wing vein r1 has several small setulae, there are distinct blackish marks on the wing between veins sc and rs from the end of the basicostal marking as far as the level where sc starts to turn upward toward costa and about the base of the anal cell on both sides of the anal vein, and the head does not protrude below, differing in these respects from Hennigs figures.

A Review of the Nearctic Stratiomyini (Diptera, Stratiomyidae)

James (1936) proposed a classification of the Nearctic Stratiomyinae, based particularly on antennal structure and wing venation. Although key presented in that work requires some modification, and some details, involving particularly generic reassignment of some species referred to Odontomyia , need to be reconsidered, subsequent experience with Nearctic as well as exotic forms seems to indicate that the classification in basically sound. The greatest gaps in our understanding these generic complexes are, perhaps, the lack of fossil evidence and the fragmentary knowledge of immature stages.