[tn-moths] Re: A nice night
- From: kjchilds <kjchilds@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "ncsc-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <ncsc-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "tn-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <tn-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2011 12:49:11 -0700 (PDT)
When I'm labeling my photos, I go with whatever feels right. For example,
calling Antaeotricha leucillana a "Pale Gray Bird-dropping" doesn't feel right
so I add Moth to the end. Calling Lacosoma chiridota a "Scalloped Sack-bearer"
sounds OK, IMHO.
Ken Childs
Henderson, TN
Chester County
http://tinyurl.com/Kens-Moths-2011
________________________________
From: Jean Obrist <innisfreehorses@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: ncsc-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; tn-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 2:40 PM
Subject: [ncsc-moths] Re: A nice night
Hugh, some people are very new to mothing, and just learning
to use MPG for IDs. I like dropping the word "Moth" from the end of the
common name. We can all do that. As for anything more complex, we
will get it in time. Thanks for teaching us.
Jean Obrist
----- Original Message -----
>From: Hugh McGuinness
>To: ncsc-moths@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ; TN Moths
>Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 1:34 PM
>Subject: [ncsc-moths] A nice night
>
>Dear Southern Leppers,
>
>Now that summer vacation is near,
I was thinking I might post some of my Long Island sightings. A few people
suggested that I do so when I joined the list, but if there is a groundswell
that feels LI moths are not appropriate for this list, I would certainly
understand.
>
>Last night I traveled to my field site in Montauk, set four
traps and then set up blacklights at a small house on the edge of the
village.
Montauk is the eastern tip of LI's south shore and was in fact an island when
English settlers arrived. The moths at Montauk are spectacular and diverse
largely because nearly 70% of the Montauk peninsula is parkland--if only
there
had been so much foresight on the rest of Long Island!
>
>The wind was
fairly gusty until about 1 am so moths didn't settle much, but I did manage
my
first 100 species night--the current total is 130, but I have a few
unidentified micros to add. Highlights included Several Io Moths, a lone
Polyphemus Moth, Melsheimer's Sack-bearer, Lacosoma chiridota, and Bondia
crescentella, which is a cool micro that looks a lot like a Nolid.
>
>First of the season moths for me were Acrolophus plumifrontella,
Argyresthia oreasella, Clepsis peritana, Snowy Urola (Urola nivalis), Plain
Besma (Besma endropiaria), Packard's Wave, Eyed Paectes (Paectes occulatrix),
Meganola minuscula, Tufted Bird Dropping (Cerma cerintha), Black-bordered
Lemon (Marimtha nigrofimbria), and Lycophotia phylophora.
>
>The sample
from my four traps appeared to hold the promise of more than 250 species, but
that number won't be determined for several moths when I pull them out of the
freezer to actually ID and count them after the bulk of the field season is
over.
>
>Finally, while I have the floor, I have been meaning to say
something about the common names of moths. First point is that while I have
huge amounts of respect and appreciation for Bob Patterson and what he has
contributed to moth ID, I do not like his naming conventions. He has attached
the superfluous word "moth" to virtually every adult Lep, however, this
subverts the original common names of groups and adds extra words to the
name,
and I just plain don;t like it. An example, Acronicta are not Dagger Moths,
but Daggers. Similarly Sphinx Moths are Sphinxes, Lithophane are Pinions (not
Pinion Moths), etc. Many of our common names were pioneered by Brits, and I
like to follow their conventions when referring to the common name of a
genus,
or of a group of closely related genera. The majority of the rest of our
common names were made up by Charlie Covell (and I have heard with
considerable help from Eric Quinter) when he wrote his famous field guide. I
asked Charlie several years ago what he lessons he had learned about common
names, and he said "I wish I hadn't named any after the genus." Onew example
of the \ problem is that everything that has the common name Bomolocha is now
in the genus Hypena--here is a group that needs a new common name. So what I
am suggesting is that within reason, until there is an official list of
common
names, people might want to use the common names as they were original
intended and get creative and clever and make up new common names for groups
that are in desperate need of them (e.g., Bomolocha). (OK, got that out of
the
system.)
>
>Hugh
>
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