common names

[Kenelm Philip]

> I remember reading somewhere that our dear old Monarch - Danaus plexippus
> ...has had about 5 different scientific names but only one common name.

Would that matters were as straightforward as that! According to Jackie
Miller's 'The Common Names of North American Butterflies', the Monarch
has been called by the following common names:

Monarch
Milkweed Butterfly
Storm Fritillary
Wanderer
Archippus

Then, to make matters more amusing, I have to add the odd fact that in
Alaska and the Yukon, most non-lepidopterists call the Canadian Tiger
Swallowtail the Monarch. There's even a 'Monarch Road' in Fairbanks,
named after all the swallowtails seen at damp earth on the road.

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at uaf.edu




 
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