Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 313 PROPOSED USE OF THE PLENARY POWERS TO DESIG-NATE TYPE SPECIES FOR THE GENERA " NYSIUS " DALLAS, 1852, AND " ARTHENEIS " SPINOLA, 1837 (CLASS INSECTA, ORDER HEMIPTERA) By R. L. USINGER {United States Public Health Service) and R. I. SAILER {United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.) (Commission's reference Z.N.(S.)181) China (1943, The Generic Names of British Insects, pt. 8 : 236), has shown that, under the International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature the name Nysius Dallas, 1852 {List Specimens Hem. Ins. Coll. Brit. Mus. 2 : 551), is not apphcable to the genus universally known under that name. Through an oversight China cited Macroparius Stal, 1872 {Ofvers. VetenskAkad. Forhandl., Stockholm 29 : 43), as the correct name instead of Artheneis Spinola, 1837 {Ess. Ins. Hemipt. : 250), which he listed as a synonym. In subsequent correspondence he agreed that the latter name must be employed for this genus of LYGAEiDAE. Unfortunately, this change would produce much confusion in literature of economic entomology since the name Nysius has become virtually synonymous with " false chinch bug " and " Rutherglen bug," two important pests of agricultural crops in Europe, North America, and AustraUa. It seems advisable, therefore, to request the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to take appropriate action under suspension of the Rules in order to maintain Nysius for the genus of bugs to which it has long been applied. The change to either Macroparius or Artheneis is not made necessary through any misconception of the groups involved but simply through two unfortunate type selections. Distant (1903), ignoring the carefully defined subgenera of Stal (1874, {Enum. Hemipt. 4 : 119-122,) and Horvath (1890, Rev. Ent. 9 : 185-191) considered the genus Nysius as a unit and selected Nysius zealandicus Dallas, 1852, as its type species. N. zealandicus has pre-viously been set apart by Stal (in 1868 {K. svensk. Vetensk Akad. Handl., Stockholm (n.f.) 7 (No. 11) : 76) in a monotypic subgenus, Rhypodes, and Nysius was used for the cosmopolitan group including Lygaeus thymi Wolff, 1804 {Icon. Cimicum (4) : 149) and its allies. This did not exclude zealandicus from consideration as the type species of Nysius, since Dallas included it as one of the original species. Distant continued to use the name Nysius for the false chinch bug and its allies until his death. However, Evans (1929) raised most of the subgenera, including Rhypodes, to full genera. This should have precipitated the matter, because the name Nysius should have been used in place of Rhypodes, and the next oldest synonym should have been selected for Nysius auct. nee Dallas. However, Distant's type selection was overlooked, and it remained for Dr. China to point out the nomenclatural inconsistency in 1943. Meanwhile, Kirkaldy (1909) noted that, as Spinola himself had suggested, Artheneis Spinola, 1837 (a common European genus and the type of the sub-family artheneinae), actually comprised two genera. Instead of following general usage and selecting Artheneis foveolata Spinola, 1837 {Ess. Ins. Hemipt. :253) as the type species oi Artheneis, Kirkaldy cited " {type eymoides),= Nysius Bull, zool Nomencl., Vol. 2, Pt. 11. September, 1951
Proposed use of the Plenary Powers to designate type species for the genera "Nysius" Dallas, 1852, and "Artheneis" Spinola, 1837 (Class Insecta, Order Hemiptera)
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