2024 January 14

Jeremy Tatum writes:

Viewers will have often read or heard me lament that no two books have the same English or scientific names for butterflies and moths.  This makes for all sorts of difficulties with Invert Alert.  Do I change the names every time I learn of a change?  Or do I use one name for all time and stick to it?    I think I now have an answer to this.

I have just received a copy of the huge, magnificent, comprehensive Annotated Taxonomic Checklist of the Lepidoptera of North America North of Mexico edited by Gregory Pohl and Stephen Nanz.   (I’ll call it the ATC here.) It comprises about 13,000 species. Of course, this will not be the last word, and further changes are inevitable in the future.  But this is a sufficiently keystone work that will be a standard for years to come.

I shall not attempt to go back and relabel all the photographs that have been posted in Invertebrate Alert over the last dozen years or so.  However, from now (i.e. 2024) onwards, I shall endeavour to use, in Invertebrate Alert, the scientific names in the ATC.  I shall also endeavour to re-organize and re-write the Index to Invertebrate Alert according to the ATC  – but this will take some time – I’ll work on it from time to time over the next few weeks (months?)   The ATC does not deal at all with English names, so for the time being we’ll continue with the English names that we are used to.

Some problem species that comes to mind are:

Cedar Hairstreak.  I have hitherto been using, in Invertebrate Alert, the name Mitoura rosneri.  From henceforth I shall be calling it, following the ATC, Callophrys gryneus.  The ATC includes Mitoura and Incisalia as subgenera within Callophrys.

Brown Elfin.   ATC does not distinguish at the species level (as do Guppy and Shepard) between Brown and Western Elfins.   From now on, in Invertebrate Alert, ours will be called Brown Elfin Callophrys augustinus , no longer Incisalia iroides.

Erannis.   This is listed in ATC under E. vancouverensis.  I am personally not yet fully convinced that the Erannis that we get here isn’t European E. defoliaria.  I think in future Alerts I’ll stick to the safe side and label our moths just Erannis sp.

Coryphista meadii    is henceforth Rheumaptera meadii.  That will take a bit of getting used to!

As the year rolls on, I’ll doubtless discover a few others – these are the first few that came immediately to mind.

When may we expect to see the first noctuid this year?  Egira hiemalis is usually first seen around mid-February.  There are, however, several January sightings in Invertebrate Alert, the earliest being January 19  (last year, as it happens).