New species of skipper (Dalla ?)

[Chris J. Durden]

All these new species need names. There are benefactors out there who would
give an arm and a leg to be immortalized. Having a university building
named after a benefactor for the $2mil he or she provided is faint glory
when the building is razed and built over 30 years hence.
  There are several websites that offer to name a new species after a donor
or with the donor's choice of name. On at least one of these sites, half
the donation goes to research in the country of origin of the new species
and the other half goes to support the describer's research. Sounds like a
good idea to me. How much is a springtail name worth, or a butterfly? How
about someone putting up the option to name a new species on E-Bay and find
out just how much these things are worth. Theoretically such immortality
should be worth more than a building with an indefinite life span.
  Remember that the naming of a new species is not a discovery or
invention, so it is not covered by patent law. The naming of a new species
is a scholarly opinion and as such falls under laws covering the creation
of works of art.
  Maybe we can buy some cabinets and drawers for museum collections with
the proceeds, both here and in the country of origin.
.......Chris Durden


At 12:12  17/02/00 -0600, you wrote:
>The greatest reservoir of undescribed species lies primarily in the
>Hymenoptera and Diptera. Interestingly enough, my study of tree dwelling
>invertebrates in Travis Co just west of Austin (near the intersections of
>FM 2222 and FM 610) yielded a number of Beetles that were undescribed
>beyond the genus level. In fact, three of the seven most commonly collected
>Beetles fell into that catagory.
>
>I believe that my committee chair, Robert Wharton, has described
>approximately 100 new species in a Hymenopteran subfamily of Braconidae . .
>. just from Texas!
>Mike Quinn
>