[SoWestLep] Fatal Metalmark

[Fred Heath]

Dear Doug,
	Thank you. This explanation for "fatal" makes perfect sense to me. 
---Best regards, Fred

-----Original Message-----
From: MexicoDoug [mailto:MexicoDoug at aim.com] 

Hello Lepsters,

Based on Chris Durden's comment that "Fatal" was an addition by Klots in
1951, and with attention that nemesis was described in 1871 (Edwards), and
Holland had called it the Dusky Metalmark before that, I think it would be a
safe bet to assume that the "fatal" was added to the common name at a much
later date.  Dusky is an overused descriptor for darkish, so one could
easily speculate that Klots decided to do a little more justice to nemesis
by a more interesting name.

Why fatal?
Speculation: "Fatal" doesn't mean only life-ending.  As Mark points out,
Nemesis was the divinity charged with dispensing justice to braggarts,
offenders, and others who for whatever reason got more than their fair
share.  But earlier on in Greek mythology you can find she was simply the
spirit who doled out happyness and sadness to give men equity in life - a
fate.

Thus another definition of Fatal is ... to dispense fate.  The actual Fates
themselves were Nemesis's siblings through their mother, Night (Nyxt).
Though Nemesis wasn't one of "the" Fates (ugly, old), she was a beautiful
fatal goddess herself.  Purely speculation, but it kind of makes sense when
you think of why such a beautiful little Lep would be fatal in the sense of
a fatal accident.  Enough "musing" on what Klots was thinking.

Originally nemesis was placed in the Charis genus.  Charis nemesis (Edwards,
1871).  Charis probably refers to the Charities or to Charis herself, a
beautiful woman sometimes said to be a daughter of Bacchus (Dionysis).  A
hostplant of C. nemesis is Baccharis salicifolia, often found near empty
arroyos with ground humidity.

Other similar Metalmarks named in the same general period included Emesia
emesis (=vomiting!!?), so I wouldn't expect to much of a story behind the
nemesis name other than just being a normal diety called into Lep service.

I've had a heck of a time in the field distinguishing among the group of
coincident species of the like metalmarks including nemesis, so the modern
meaning of "nemesis" isn't too far off  ...

Guess we need the original paper. Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 3:212 (1871).

Best wishes,
Doug




 
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