Broad perspective

[Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX]

Guess I should not have beaten around the bush :-) My discomfort with these
names lies in the fact that the Labrador Sulphur (Colias nastes) has a very
large range in North America and the geopolitical entity of Labrador sits at
one edge of this large range.  The Rocky Mountain Parnassian (Parnassius
smintheus) does live in the Rocky Mtns but as a crude guesstimate I would
venture that 60-70% of its range is _outside_ the "Rocks".  In both cases
the vernacular names convey a misleading image of the range of the butterfly
- altho the names do include places where the bugs flit to and fro.  Kinda
like coining the name 'New York Copper' for the widespread eastern Lycaena
hypophlaeas (species phlaeas by some peoples' thinking) or Appalachian
Anglewing for Polygonia faunus :-) The logic escapes me ----

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Gochfeld [mailto:gochfeld at eohsi.rutgers.edu]
Sent: Monday, November 06, 2000 11:01 AM
To: Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX
Cc: 'lepsl'
Subject: Re: Broad perspective


I'm not familiar with either, but would infer that one was "Western" and
the other "Eastern".  I bet that's not right, right.  MIKE GOCHFELD

"Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX" wrote:
> 
> Might as well toss in my 2 cents worth on the topic of common names
derived
> from geography.  I wince every time I see the English names 'Rocky
Mountain
> Parnassian' and 'Labrador Sulphur'.  People who are familiar with the
> physical and political geography of North America in relation to the
> distribution of these butterflies will understand why they are such poor
> choices for vernacular names :-)
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Norbert Kondla  P.Biol., RPBio.
> Forest Ecosystem Specialist, Ministry of Environment
> 845 Columbia Avenue, Castlegar, British Columbia V1N 1H3
> Phone 250-365-8610
> Mailto:Norbert.Kondla at gems3.gov.bc.ca
> http://www.env.gov.bc.ca
> 
> 
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-- 

================================================
Michael Gochfeld, MD, PhD
Professor of Environmental and Community Medicine
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute
170 Frelinghuysen Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854  USA
732-445-0123 X627  fax 732-445-0130

 
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