Species Names for Nobokov

[Stanley A. Gorodenski]

Some time ago there was a write-up in the News about Nobokov.  I had
never heard of Nobokov.  I just read a review by May Berenbaum of two
books about him.  The reviewer feels the conventions for naming a
species were abused.  I don't know much about these conventions, and so
I have no idea how far off base Berenbaum may be, but maybe someone else
does.  Berenbaum said:
 
"Perhaps even more distracting  is the excessive determination of
Johnson and his colleagues to honor Nobokov's memory.  They have named
over 30 species after characters in Nobokov's novels.  Patronyms
(scientific names that refer to people) are supposed to honor
individuals who have made a contribution in the field, although it is
true that in many cases the contributions are indirect; species are
routinely named for spouses and offspring, and occasionally after sports
heroes, rock bands, cartoonists, and politicians.  But it is downright
creepy to name a species after Humbert in Lolita (whose principle claim
to fame is unchecked pedophilia) and then to reassure readers that "the
scientists made certain to place humbert in a separate genus and
assigned to that name a species with a limited range living some fifteen
hundred miles from where lolita might ever be found roaming.""
 
 
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