common names

[Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX]

Hello Jere. Thank you very much for sharing your views on this topic.
Sharing of views is one of the purposes of this communication technology.  I
also express my views (purely to state my opoinion) on this discussion group
from time to time. Other times I am simply seeking information and I assume
(rightly or wrongly) that people who do not recognize a particular name at
all will likely not have the information at their fingertips.  And
occasionally I post some things of an informational nature that I think
might be of interest to some participants. Such postings could be viewed as
educational.  Other times I post provocative notes to see what other
opinions or information can be gotten from other people.  One perhaps
provocative opinion that I hold is that there is no such thing as an amateur
or a professional. There are only two kinds of people on our planet. Those
who have an interest in butterflies and those who do not. For those who do
have an interest in butterflies it is clear that the details of the interest
and the level of knowledge is unique to each person. But everyone has
something to contribute and nobody should be shy about public discussion and
debate.  Viva la difference and too bad for those among us who get annoyed
by opinions and views that differ from their own :-) they will likely be
grumpy a lot :-)

-----Original Message-----
From: Jere Kahanpaa [mailto:jkahanpa at pcu.helsinki.fi.invalid]
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 2:22 AM
To: leps-l at lists.yale.edu
Subject: Re: common names


Hi.

mbpi at juno.com wrote:
: At the risk of sounding "amateurish," I find the use of common names a
: helpful frame-of-reference.  

: For example:  when someone on this listserv starts expounding on some
: foreign species or subspecies, and doesn't even give "a clue" to the
: family of that species...such as nymphalid or lycenid, much less "brush
: foot" or "gossamer wings," it's very hard for someone who isn't familiar
: with the "taxa of the world" to get a picture of what the elitist is
: referring to (!)  To my way of thinking, it is a passive-aggressive ploy
: to "exclude" anyone who hasn't been studying butterflies for the past 25
: years...let them "figure it out" (!)  It seems to me you don't really
: "want" to educate the ignorant masses, and would much prefer to keep your
: "coveted and covert knowledge" just that.

For a non-native english speaker -- my first language is finnish -- this
argument work exactly in the opposite direction: I have no idea of what
species groups are included in blues, pugs or fritillaries, but scientific
names such as Boloria, Eumedonia or Eupithecia give some idea of what
taxons we are talking about. 

Using common names for foreign (from your point of view!) taxons makes
even less sense as then the people how live in the country where the taxon
is resident might not recognize it at all and cannot submit valuable
advice.

: Believe me, if you were actually willing to impart even a tad bit more
: "information" than the majority of you do, the subjugated amateurs on
: this listserv would "fly"  They might even feel free to "express"
: themselves (!)
: Then...watch out!!!!  Maybe that's what you're afraid of ?!

Hmm. If I'm afraid of something it is the suprisingly low number of 
non-american comment on sci.bio.entomology.lepidoptera. Using common names 
certainly doesn't help at all as they are strongly language- and 
region-dependent. If you want to use common names I suggest using Finnish 
common names: 

Vanessa cardui:		Ohdakeperhonen
Inachis io: 		Neitoperhonen 
Nymphalis antiopa: 	Suruvaippa 

etc. A larger list is available at 

http://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/intro.html#tree

;-)

On the finnish lep newsgroup, sfnet.harrastus.perhoset 
('finnish-net.hobby.leps'), we use mainly scientific names (often 
abbreviated) but try to also supply either a common name or a reference to 
the larger group like this: Timandra comai (Geometridae).


Jere Kahanpää
-- 
Lord, make my words as sweet as honey, for one day I may have to eat them
								
							Daryl Benson

 
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