Bulletin ofZoological Nomenclature 52(2) June 1995 181 Audisio, P. 1988. Tassonomia, ecologia e dislribuzione geografica di alcuni Kateretidae e Nitidulidae ovest-paleartici. Fragniciiiu Eniomotugica (Rome), 20(2): 189-231. Audisio, P. 1989. Notes on the genus Brachykptus Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Kateretidae). Fulici Enlomologica Hwigaricii. 50; 9-14. Kirejtshuk, A.G. 1989. New palaearctic genus and species of the family Kateretidae (Coleoptera) and notes on the synonymy. ZooUigicheskii Zhurnal (Moscow), 68(4): 145-149. [In Russian]. Kirejtshuk, A.G. 1992. Coleoptera, Kateretidae. Pp. 210-216 //; Lier, P.A. (Ed.), The insects of the USSR Far East. Ill, Coleoptera, 2. Nauka. Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg. 704 pp. [In Russian]. Linnaeus, C. 1758. Sysleiua naturae. Ed. 10. vol. 1. 824 pp. Salvii, Holmiae. Marseul, S. 1885. Precis des genres et especes de la tribu des nitidulides de TAncien Monde. LAht'iUe. 23: 19-142. Silfverberg, H. 1992. Eimmeratio Coleopterorum Fennoscandiae. Daniae et Balliae. v, 94 pp. Helsingen Hyonteisvaihoyhdistys, Helsinki. Spornraft, K. 1992. Familie: Kateretidae. Pp. 110-111 in Lohse, G.A. & Lucht. W.H. (Eds.), Die Kafer Mittek'iiropas. vol. 13. 376 pp. Goecke & Evers, Krefeld. Thomson, C.G. 1859. Skandinaviens Coleopterasynoptiskt hearhetade. vol. I. 290 pp. Lund. Verhoeff, K.W. 1923. Beitrage zur, Kenntnis der Coleopteren-Larven mit besonderer Beriick- sichtigung der Clavicornia. Ar,chivjar Natiirgeschichte. 89(A, 1): 1-109. (2) A.F. Newton TheFieldMuseum, Roosevelt RoadatLakeShoreDrive. Chicago. Illinois60605-2496. U.S.A. I wish to comment on the application dealing with the family-group names BRACHYPTERINAE Erichson, [1845]and brachypterinaeZwick, 1973. I agreewith the authors's proposals to conserve the current spelling of the much older name BRACHYPTERINAE Erichson and tomodify thelaternametoeliminate thehomonymy. Inpara. 2oftheapplication theauthorscited Erichson(1843) fortheestablishment of the family name kateretidae, with brachypterinae Erichson, [1845] as a sub- familywithinthisfamily. ItshouldbenotedthatErichson(1843)didnotincludeinhis group 'Cateretes' a valid genus Kateretes (or its emendation Cateretes), but rather seemstohaveappropriated thisgeneric nameto be thegroupname; hence Erichson's group name 'Cateretes' is not available (Article llf(i)l). A family-group name based on Kateretesapparently was first made available by Ganglbauer(1899, p. 447; not p. 518 as cited in the application). Thus, the family name should be brachypteridae Erichson, [1845], with kateretinae Ganglbauer, 1899 as a subfamily or synonym. This situation, pointed out in two works on Coleoptera family-group names that are now in press (by J.F. Lawrence & A.F. Newton, and by J. Pakaluk et al.), makes action to conserve Ganglbauer's (1899) kateretidae a necessity. (Editorial note. A proposal toconservethe namekateretidaeGanglbauer. 1899bygivingit precedence over brachypterinae Erichson, [1845] is set out in DrAudisio's comment above). Comments on the proposed conservation ofSphaerocera Latreille, 1804 and Borophaga Enderlein, 1924 (Insecta, Diptera) (Case 2907; see BZN 51: 312-315) (1) R.H.L. Disney University Department ofZoology. Downing Street. Cambridge CB2 3EJ. U.K. 182 Bulletin ofZoological Nomenclature 52(2)June 1995 1. In their application Brown & Sabrosky provide (BZN 51: 313. paras. 4 and 5) an interesting and exhaustive review ofthe identity of Muscci suhsiihaiis Linnaeus, 1767. Professor O.W. Richards was a specialist on the sphaeroceridae, hence it is not surprising that he found it hard to believe that earlier authors could confuse a phorid specimen and a sphaerocerid (see para. 4 ofthe application). However, as a specialist on thephoridaeIcantestifythat themostfrequentnon-phoridssenttome foridentification are sphaerocerids. Even distinguished entomologists haveconfused the two families when the rear veins ofa sphaerocerid have been particularly pale. 2. The suggestion by Richards (1930) that the phorid specimen labelled as Musca subsultansin thecollection ofthe Linnean SocietyofLondon may not be an original specimen is simply speculative. Richards identified it as Phoraftavimana Meigen, 1830, but it is actually the species called Borophaga okellyi by Schmitz (1937); Schmitz did not examine this specimen. Like Richards, Brues (1903) confiised this species with P. ftavimana, which is ajunior (by the first reviser action ofZetterstedt, 1848, p. 2886) subjective synonym of P. femorata Meigen, 1830 (p. 213). The valid specificnameofthetypespeciesofBorophagaishtnctfemorata, and thereisnoneed either to take any action concerning flavmuma (cf. the title and abstract of the application) or to treat it as relevant to the Linnean Society specimen. 3. 1 support the proposed suppression ofBorborus Meigen, 1803 (proposal (l)(a) on BZN 51: 313). However, I oppose the suppression ofthe specific name ofMusca subsultans Linnaeus, 1767 (proposal (l)(b)); this is the valid name ofthe Borophaga species otherwise called B. okellyi Schmitz, 1937. Ecologists and ethologists do not read the BZN, and they have as their priority minimum changes to the names they find in relevant key works. The two most recent such works dealing with the European species ofBorophaga are Disney (1983, 1991) and both employ the name Borophaga subsultans. The name subsultans should be put on the Official List of Specific Names, not be treated as in proposal (5) on BZN 51: 314. Additional references Brues, C.T. 1903. A monograph of the North American Phoridae. Transactions of the American EntomologicalSociety, 29: 331^04. Disney. R.H.L. 1991. Family Phoridae. Pp. 143-204 in Soos. A. & Papp, L. (Eds.). Catalogue ofPalaearctic Diplera, vol. 7. Elsevier, Amsterdam. Schmitz, H. 1937. Over een Europeesche Borophaga s. str., o'Kellyi n. sp. Natuwhistorisch Maamlhlad. 26: 91-92. Zetterstedt, J.W. 1848. P. 2886 in: Diplera Scandinaviae disposita et descripta. xvi. 6609 pp. Lund. (2) Brian V. Brown EntomologySection. NaturalHistory MuseumofLosAngeles County, 900Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. I would like to reply to the above comment by Dr Disney on the application by Dr Sabrosky and myself. The phorid Borophaga okellyiSchmitz, 1937 occurs not only in Europe but also in I North America. This name has been in continuous use in Noth America. It is used in the major works (Borgmeier, 1963; Schmitz & Beyer, 1965). The species is J