Fwd: RE: multicaudata vs multicaudatus

Chris J. Durden drdn at mail.utexas.edu
Thu Apr 26 11:38:47 EDT 2001


Michael,
    If you really want to use a common name for *Pterourus multicadata* the 
oldest is Xochiquetzalpapalotl, which as one of the earthly manifestations 
of a deity, should not be taken lightly. This butterfly was known to the 
inhabitants of Teotihuacan in Mexico, who depicted both adult and pupa in 
painted clay effigies. The species ranges from Alberta to Guatemala and 
from Central Texas to California with several poorly known subspecies. The 
individuals with longest forewing that I have found so far are from Travis 
Co. TX.  These are the largest butterflies found north of the Mexico where 
they are exceeded only by *Caligo* species.
    Xochiquetzalpapalotl = flower-feathered-serpent-butterfly (from Nahuatl)
    Pterourus multicadata = wing-that-glows-with-passion, the many-tailed 
(from Latin)
...................Chris Durden

At 08:31 AM 4/26/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>If you don't like common names go to 2.
>
>1. The example below shows why the common names of species should be
>treated as proper nouns and capitalized since (style manuals
>notwithstanding) they refer to unique entities.
>
>Use in a sentence:  There flies a multi-tailed butterfly".
>
>Does that refer to one of many butterflies which happen to have more
>than one tail, or to a member of a single species (Papilio
>multicaudatus, the Multi-tailed Butterfly).
>
>
>
>    At last some concrete information that leaves us with two
>possibilities -
> >*Papilio multicaudata* - "butterfly, the multi-tailed"
> >*Papilio multicaudatus* - "the multi-tailed butterfly"
>
>CONCLUSIONS: Species as unique entities are proper nouns and ought to be
>capitlized to avoid confusion.  Try for example, the little metalmark.
>
>If I keep this up I will make a case for not using common names.
>
>2.  Bye
>
>
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