Some thoughts on names from my own experiences as a recorder

Uncertain Confused Delicate Anomalous Suspected

Me on a bad day? Some thoughts on names from my own experiences as a recorder

Uncertain Hoplodrina octogenaria Confused Apamea furva Delicate Mythimna vitellina Anomalous Stilbia anomala Suspected Parastichtis suspecta

No, just vernacular names of five noctuid . Most of my recording is of: -- macro-moths and butterflies -- micro-moths and non-marine molluscs.

Merveille du Jour. This is its “English” vernacular name, which translates to wonder/marvel/beauty of the day.

BUT it is a night-flyer! Its vernacular name in France is “La Runique”. The scientific name of the Merveille du Jour was, until recently, aprilina.

According to Emmet (1991), Dichonia is Greek for “a pairing” (there are two short parallel streaks in the tornal area of the hindwing).

Latin aprilina does not refer to flight period (October) but to the month in which buds produce new bright green leaves.

Now called aprilina.

British macro-moths and butterflies all seem to have vernacular names. Almost everybody, whatever their level of expertise, appears happy to use them routinely.

We have c. 1550 micro-moths (excluding adventives) and only 192 have a vernacular name in the checklist; these are mainly pests or relatively large and noticeable species.

However, almost all other micros have a “Porter” vernacular, introduced by Jim Porter in 2002, many based on Heslop’s (1947) checklist. Although now listed on the NBN, Porter names have not caught on within the recording community. Indeed, they are vigorously derided.

On Facebook, the ‘Description’ of the ‘Recording Moths Group’ includes: “Please avoid using abbreviations or initials for names, and Porter names for micros as not everyone will understand them.” In another Facebook Group, Porter names are called “artificial”, “manufactured” and “twee”.

One County Moth Recorder said, “If someone sends in a record with London Dowd on it I will personally go round to their house, remove the collar from their Robinson, jam it over their head and then stick the bulb in their mouth. Then say ‘try trapping anything now‘.”

London Dowd is Blastobasis lacticolella. In my Excel spreadsheet where I enter micros I include vernaculars, with Porter names in blue, but I cannot remember them. The YNU has a Conchological Section. We record slugs and snails. What do you think a Common Yellow Conch looks like? Perhaps?

The YNU has a Conchological Section. We record slugs and snails. What do you think a Common Yellow Conch looks like? Arianta arbustorum var. Agapeta hamana (Common flavescens (Copse Snail) Yellow Conch) Paula Lightfoot told me about this record on iSpot, identified as:

Scallop Shell ( undulata)

It is, in fact: Whereas:

King (Pecten Scallop Shell maximus) (Rheumaptera undulata) What about non-marine molluscs?

For myself, I don’t use vernaculars, and I don’t know anybody who does. I wouldn’t recognise most of the names.

If I need them, I try to follow the Kerney (1999) Atlas. In fact, for snails, NBN names are very similar. However, some species (e.g. Candidula gigaxii or Vitrea subrimata) do not yet have a vernacular. For slugs the situation is confused. In Rowson et al. (2014), the AIDGAP guide, there are 42 species. They give a “preferred” vernacular, and list alternatives.

No. of names 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 No. of spp. 11* 7 7 5 8 3 1 *Mainly recently created species.

One name is used for 3 spp., and 5 names are used for 2 spp. Preferred names agree about 90% with NBN. Quite how some vernacular names come about seems obscure to me.

Why should Limax maximus, the Great Grey Slug, have become the Leopard Slug or Tiger Slug?

Why should Arion flagellus, the Durham Slug, have become the Spanish Stealth Slug?

SlugWatch, a citizen science project emanating from the John Innes Centre, seems to invent its own names (e.g. Chestnut Slug) and to engage in alarmist and sensational propaganda. Mollusc World seems happy to leave nomenclatural practice to individual authors. Fine, but I recently saw two different vernaculars for the same species in one issue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Short-toothed Herald Snail Carychium minimum … [many spp., several pages] … Short-toothed Herald Snail …

Carychium minimum Short-toothed Herald Snail … [many spp., several pages] … Carychium minimum …

Short-toothed Herald Snail Carychium minimum … [many spp., several pages] … Short-toothed Herald Snail …