English names for the British leps

[Anne Kilmer]

John Acorn wrote:
> 
> Lepsters,
> 
> Just thought I would voice a North American opinion that is not against the
> British common names.  It seems to me that 1) these names have a long
> history, and are accessible to anyone with a field guide to the British leps
> (and those who don't have this sort of reference presumably shouldn't care
> exactly what species are being referred to),

Here, I beg to differ. Many butterflies and moths are found throughout
Europe (and a few are found around the world) but we cannot demand that
a Swedish handbook should include the English names. 
Note that the list being discussed was amassed in Portugal. Don't you
think the Portuguese might be interested ... but frustrated? 
Some of the English names (Common Blue for instance) are used in
different countries to refer to different bugs, as has already been
mentioned. 
I have put a little piece of paper beside my computer, on which I jot
down the scientific terms for the butterflies I have seen. Thus I can
sound clever when I write to brag about them. 
I regret that my sedentary habits have kept the list so short. We're
staying on another month, and perhaps during that time I will persuade
some more limber butterflier to come do some spotting. 
There's a full Irish breakfast in it for you. And a bowlful of
Piskybits. Gotta finish those up. 
Cheers
Anne Kilmer
Mayo
Ireland


 and 2) we use the English
> language on this list server, so English names are not beyond us.  Of
> course, I would prefer to see both the English and the Latin names in all
> postings, but let's give credit where it is due.  The British have a
> more-or-less stable set of English names for their fauna-- something many of
> us are still struggling to promote over here.
> 
> John Acorn
> Edmonton
> ----------