Fatal Metalmark

[Fred Heath]

The other day at a presentation on California butterflies someone asked why
the Fatal Metalmark (Celephelis nemesis) is named "fatal". Since I had no
idea, I hypothesized out loud that the original collector of this species
was having trouble catching it and so it became his "nemesis". Finally one
day he was so excited to see it nectaring on a nearby flower, he leaned over
and swung his net catching the type specimen of the butterfly, but not
realizing the flower was on the edge of cliff, plunged to his death. So his
nemesis was fatal to him! Although this got a big laugh, I also became
curious (and yes I know curiosity killed the cat) as to where the name came
from? Anybody out there know?  
--Best regards, Fred



 
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