New species of skipper (Dalla ?)

[Doug Yanega]

Chris wrote:

>  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.

No, copyright law does not apply to scientific names, and thank god it
doesn't! Imagine how much it would cost to publish the results of one's
research if every time you referred to a species, you had to pay a royalty?
BUT THERE ARE PEOPLE ARGUING FOR EXACTLY THIS. Almost as bad, the naming of
new species is not regulated or reviewed, so if people with no taxonomic
training want to auction off names on eBay, like - say - new names for
Morpho rhetenor - there's nothing to stop them from doing it, making every
specimen in their collection into a holotype. "Here, look at this gorgeous
butterfly - I'll name it after you!". Doesn't matter if it already has a
name, since the ICZN doesn't *prohibit* people from knowingly creating
synonymies. If you have 50 Morpho rhetenors, that's 50 new species you can
name, all legally, even if they're not *valid* names. Won't that be fun
when we have to list a few *thousand* synonymies for every flashy butterfly
and beetle?

Argh.


Dr. Douglas Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
                http://insects.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82