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Post by wingedwishes on Jul 27, 2011 11:37:58 GMT -8
If you discoverd an insect, what would you name it and why? Go ahead and invent a genus too if you want. Would you name after a person? A region? A characteristic?
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Post by jamesd on Jul 28, 2011 3:30:56 GMT -8
I've never really thought about it. Aren't characteristics the most appropriate to name an insect after...
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Post by anthony on Jul 28, 2011 8:15:59 GMT -8
I would think somthing to honor Fabre would be a possibility.
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Post by wingedwishes on Jul 28, 2011 11:23:47 GMT -8
Characteristics are appropriae but after an important person is quite an honor. My favorite Latin name is Sauromalus obesus which translates to "fat bad lizard." Who says scientists don't have a sense of humor?
Many are named after Greek or Latin gods or mythological figures.
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rjb
Full Member
Posts: 187
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Post by rjb on Jul 28, 2011 13:59:14 GMT -8
I kind of liked Miller and Wheeler Col Bull 58(4), 2004,466-487. They named a new genus of Leiodid "Gelae" pronounced "Jelly".
New Species:
Gelae fish,
Gelae belae,
Gelae baen,
Gelae donut,
Gelae rol, and others.
Nothing silly about that! Later in another publication, they named some new slime-mold beetles after George Bush and Dick Cheney. Honor or insult? I think a great honor.
Rick
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Post by starlightcriminal on Jul 29, 2011 5:21:06 GMT -8
An insult, but to the slime-mold beetles not Bush and Cheney.
I'm not sure, it would depend on what I found and the specific circumstances surrounding it. There are lots of funny epithets for things people had difficulty finding or were surprised by. I might use an honorarium if I found something as a result of working with someone integral in the discovery process. Otherwise I think I would use a descriptor. But a good one- not "caerulea" for something that is clearly purple or some obscure feature that is not immediately striking.
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Post by entoman on Jul 29, 2011 18:22:42 GMT -8
I believe that Gary Larson (writer of the comic The Far Side), had a specie of louse named after him.
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Post by prillbug2 on Jul 29, 2011 21:12:50 GMT -8
Actually, I've been very close to having had the chance to name a new species, several times. I found out that a tortois beetle that I acquired from Chuck Ianni in the eighties had been newly described only years after I had placed it in my collection. Another tortoise beetle that I collected in Belize 3 years ago, had been newly described in 2007. A Strongylaspis (Cerambycidae) from Bolivia, had been described two years after I had acquired it from the person who collected it eleven years ago. The opportunities were there but I didn't recognize them, because I didn't have access to type specimens or literature to make proper identifications and comparisons at the time. And well, maybe the brain was a little dead at the time, too. It's a matter of being able to recognize such things and being in the right places with the right people, actually.
Jeff Prill
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Post by nomihoudai on Jul 30, 2011 1:58:07 GMT -8
Getting new stuff is not the problem I guess, just go to Africa and sweep your net or collect microlepidoptera in South East Asia. I read once a few papers on the topic and they estimate that of 10 species of microlepidoptera in SE Asia 7 are completely unknown, 2 are in someones collection but unnamed and 1 of them got a name. You were still miles away of naming a new sp. as the hard part usually is reckognizing the sp. and not finding something unknown ( unless North America or Europe of course where there is massive and "complete" collections ). Only last week I packed a Sphingidae I caught that I identified as a sp. named in 2007.
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Post by africaone on Jul 30, 2011 5:19:26 GMT -8
name an insect after his dicoverer is a kind of recognition / gratitude / thank ! It is the best way if someone really first discover something (because he caught in a new area, proove by breeding it is new, find the way for how to separate it from a known sp, etc. etc.). also if you wish to thank someone for his whole work, for his help, ...  The problem is not so easy if it is a n. sp discovered during a study / revision and that existed in collection for many years and was caufght by many collectors. In this case better is to name a sp after his characteristic (acuta, sevenpunctata, sulphurea, ...) or if it is very local, after a locality (unfortunetely many sp has been described in the past after the type locality despite it is now known from a very much larger area if not a continent ! that looses sense ...) Many authors take inspiration into mythology (muses, gods, heroes, etc.), history (Pseudantheraea imperator named after De Gaulle !!), .... In our consumer society, i will not be surprised to see a name created by sponsoring (I have yet seen a such proposal on ebay) or publicity  Thierry |
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Post by saturniidave on Jul 30, 2011 9:11:41 GMT -8
Sponsorship? Yes, it would not surprise me! coca-colai maybe?
I like the light hearted look, if my memory serves me correctly there is a beetle called Abra cadabra. A fossil expert here in England recently named a genus of fossils and the specific names he named after the Sex Pistols i.e. johnnyrotteni, sidviciousi etc. In the shell word there is a cone shell called Conus petergabrieli, the author was a Genesis fan!
I could have real fun with naming new species myself. I would erect a genus 'Status' and the species 'quo' maybe? How about a genus 'Wannabe' and the species 'famous' ? LOL
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Post by prillbug2 on Jul 30, 2011 12:05:36 GMT -8
How about the genus Vi and species brators, Dave? Or, genus Blond and species ie?
Jeff Prill
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Post by saturniidave on Jul 30, 2011 15:41:58 GMT -8
Nice ones Jeff ;D
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Post by Chris Grinter on Jul 30, 2011 18:32:36 GMT -8
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Post by downundermoths on Jul 31, 2011 6:24:12 GMT -8
You are right, Claude... Microlepidoptera would be a fairly easy way to go. I have a large drawer full of close on 400 micros, that I collected in Papua New Guinea, and would bet any money that there is at least a dozen 'new' species amongst them...
Barry
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