During the past year the opportunity came for me to study the types of bark and ambrosia beetles (Platypodidae and Scolytidae) in three old, significant collections. The oldest of these is the collection of Count C. (t. Mannerheim, presently housed in the Universitetets Zoologiska Museum, Helsinki, Finland. It is noteworthy because it contains the types of species taken in Russian America (mostly Alaska) at an early date when few American species were known. Most of the 17 species of concern

more »

... e were previously correctly known to specialists; noteable exceptions involve Bostrichus (now Ips) tridens, Hulurgus (now Pseudohylesinus) sericeus, and a new status for H. (now Dendroctonus) obesus. The second collection considered here, in terms of age priority, is that of Victor von Motschulsky presently housed at the Zoological Institute of the USSR. Moscow. The 26 species of concern here were described largely from Ceylon and. for the most part, have been known to specialists only from the original descriptions and a very few duplicate specimens evidently distributed by Motschulsky. Previous workers were not successful in locating the types and have either ignored the names or have considered the types lost or destroyed. The policy adopted here in this article apparently is consistent with the action of previous workers; that is, specific names of these species were given their normal place in priority, but three generic names, Anodius (1860) and Phloeotrogus (1863) (=Xyleborus Eichhoff, 1864), and Olonthogaster (1886) (=PhIoeosinus Chapuis, 1869) clearly predate the priority of names now used for the genera to which they apply. These names. Xyleborus and Phloeosinus. have been applied consistently for a century to large genera of almost world-wide distribution and it is not in the interest of nomenclatorical stability that they be changed. .Mthough Anodius. Phloeotrogus, and Olonthogaster have been hsted in catalogs in an 'The travel grant that made this report possible was provided by the National Sricnrc Founilntion through the Entomological