Standardized Butterfly Names

[Bart Vanholder]

At 17:53 27-3-98 -0900, Kenelm Philip wrote:
>
>	Wanda Dameron has created an interesting situation with regard 
>any older lepidopterists who prefer to use scientific names--they are

Well, I'm not old (nor consider myself as such), but prefer the use of
scientific names anyway. I recently attended the SEL-meeting (European
Lepidopterist Society) and we had talks with people from Finland, Germany,
Lituania, Russia, Bulgaria, England, Belgium, France, Estland, ...without
scientific names this would be simple impossible: e.g. we talked about
Nymphalis antiopa; In that case we would here names like Morio, Rouwmantel,
Trauermantel, Camberwell beauty, Mourning clouck... It appears that even in
'so related
' English and American language have totally different names for the same
species ! 

>welcome a nice list of common names in the language of each country
>involved! There are already enough problems with scientific names... :-)

I totally agree with you Ken ! Some organisations find it necessary in some
countries to invent some 'local name' for each butterfly or moth that
didn't have one yet.  It is never scientist that ask these things...they
had faced allready to many mistakes ;-) in nomenclature. In the Europe we
often one speak about the Painted lady (Vanessa cardui) and in USA the
American painted lady (Vanessa virginiensis)...If we see you in the USA
speaking about the painted lady often omitting 'american'. Well that's
simply another species ! Or do you think in USA you're alone on this world ???
 
I agree it takes time and effort to learn all these scientific names. But
anyone with sufficient interest in Leps simply knows the names by the
frequent use of them. It is
not the case that we spend hours in learning only Latin names ! So if you
not take this effort, better stay away.

BTW, those involved in Moths, like me, have even a worse job for all these
names to learn...so no need to confuse us with a vernacular name just
because you are chauvenistic and invent some one-country name. 


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Bart Vanholder
Belgian Migrant Lepidoptera Survey
Droeskouter 33
B-9450 Haaltert
Belgium
e-mail: bvholder at innet.be 
homepage Migrant Leps http://www.club.innet.be/~pub00644/
homepage Sesiidae     http://www.club.innet.be/~pub00644/sesiid/seslist.htm
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