Fwd: RE: multicaudata vs multicaudatus

Gary Anweiler Edmonton Alberta Canada gganweiler at sprint.ca
Thu Apr 26 22:52:57 EDT 2001


Ok, I'm sold.  I vote for the "Many-tailed Wing-that-glows-with-passion, and
I intend to use this from now on. I do not think this one can be improved
upon.

Thanks Chris

Gary Anweiler, Edmonton, Alberta

Chris J. Durden <drdn at mail.utexas.edu> wrote in message
news:4.3.2.7.2.20010426102001.00ac5760 at pop3.norton.antivirus...
> 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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