Comments on the proposed precedence of \u3ci\u3eBolboceras\u3c/i\u3e Kirby, 1819 (July) (Insecta, Coleoptera) over \u3ci\u3eOdonteus\u3c/i\u3e Samouelle, 1819 (June)

(Case 3097; see BZN 59: 246-248, 280-281; 60: 303-311) I support the application to use Bolboceras Kirby, 1819 (July) instead of Odonteus Samouelle 1819 (June) because of prevailing usage of the name Bolboceras. The name Odonteus has not been used since it was first proposed except by Krell in 1990, who suggested that Odonteus should be used since it had priority. To do so, however, would not only destabilize the nomenclature for the often cited genus name Bolboceras, but it would also decrease the flow of information that is normally associated with the name Bolboceras. Moreover, Bolboceras is also the type genus for the tribe BOLBOCERATINI and subfamily BOLBOCERATINAE. It would be confusing to use Odonteus instead when referring to the type genus of the family-group names. The second volume of American Beetles, published in 2002, will be the standard for North American Coleoptera classification for the next several decades, and Bolboceras is used in this work (with reference to the current application to the Commission)