Meaning of Latin Names for mantids?

[cloud jaguar]

Some of these mantids have pretty cool sounding names - other than the obvious eponymously named ones, and a couple of obvious ones, I am pretty clueless as to what the names mean - blepharo (think that means something to do with eyelids), deiphobe (godfearing?) - short of learning latin, anyone know of a site that says what the latin names mean?

 

[Christian]

A lot have something to do with mythology or their predatory lifestyle.

Empusa refers to evil creatures of the Greek mythology.

Parablepharis, Blepharodes, Blepharopsis all include "Bleph", which seems to be a word for devil.

Idolomantis (Idolum) and Idolomorpha are self-explanatory and were chosen because of the strange looking of these species.

There are a lot of such examples.

Many names were given in honor to some person, mostly "cited" are Stoll, Stal, Giglio-Tos, Roy, Beier and all the other orthopterists.

"Harpax" means predatory (also found in "harpy", an evil flying creature of Greek mythology), and is found in many Hymenopodid (this name itself is self-explanatory, meaning "lobed leg") taxa names, as Pseudoharpax, Harpagomantis, Congoharpax, Chloroharpax and others. Harpax itself was an old generic name in mantids, but was given up due to preoccupation by another animal taxon.

This were only some examples, the mantid names are full of such stuff.

 

[idolomantis]

Whats the meaning of "pseudo"? i came across it many times.

 

[Morpheus uk]

Probaly a descriing thing as u get Psuedoscorpions,

Great thread btw

What about truncata?

Seen it as a mantis and as a pitcher plant :mellow:

 

[yeatzee]

Whats the meaning of "pseudo"? i came across it many times.

doesn't that mean "false"?

 

[sidewinder]

pseudo:

1. not actually but having the appearance of; pretended; false or spurious; sham.

2. almost, approaching, or trying to be.

 

[idolomantis]

pseudo:1. not actually but having the appearance of; pretended; false or spurious; sham.

2. almost, approaching, or trying to be.

so pseudocreobotra will be something like "false flower"

 

[Morpheus uk]

Ahhhh clever work there lol

D.dessicata would be dessicated like dead :lol:

 

[darkspeed]

The tough part is its not all latin. Some of it is greek, and some of it is made up.

like Phyllocrania... Phyllo is greek for sheet, and comonly refers to dough made into flat sheets. Crania meand head or skull, and paradoxa means puzzling or contradiction, so the person who named Phyllocrania Paradoxa was more than likely referring to the thin wrinkled crown of the mantis in question and associated it with thin wrinkly phyllo dough. This obviously puzzled him lol.

as fer the actual latin, actually dessicated means dried, such as dry leaf in the case of the mantis with the same name. The coronatus in Hymenopus Coronatus means crown or crowned.

 

[The_Asa]

A fairly large portion is Greek. Usually if it ends in us, a, or ae, it's latin.

 

[sidewinder]

The tough part is its not all latin. Some of it is greek, and some of it is made up.

Which is why they should be called "scientific names", not "Latin names".

S-

 

[Frack]

Which is why they should be called "scientific names", not "Latin names".S-

Actually the correct nomenclature would be "Binomial name" lol

 

[sidewinder]

Actually the correct nomenclature would be "Binomial name" lol

Actually, yes and no......

Both "scientific name" and "binomial name" are correct. But you will find that "scientific name" is used much more often even in text not intended for the layperson. Also, a "scientific name" could include subspecies which would make it a "trinomial name".

S-

 

[Morpheus uk]

Well sea horses arent actually horses but latin rolls off the tongue a bit more

 

[Orin]

like Phyllocrania... Phyllo is greek for sheet, and comonly refers to dough made into flat sheets. Crania meand head or skull,

Actually Phyllo means leaf, so it's "leaf head". I think that's pretty descriptive for the genus.

You may find a wrong answer but your most productive way to find out a meaning is to type the word or part of the word and meaning into a search engine such as "pseudo meaning". "phyllo meaning". etc.

Pseudocreobotra means false Creobroter (the person describing it spelled the ending wrong but that's the way it stays unless revised by the original descriptor). Creobroter comes from two words meaning "flesh-eater"

 

[Orin]

and is found in many Hymenopodid (this name itself is self-explanatory, meaning "lobed leg")

Hymen means membrane, not lobe. Hymeno is the Greek god of marriage for a specific reason so the membrane-leg of hymenopodids in a roundabout way refers to a flower petal.

Parablepharis, Blepharodes, Blepharopsis all include "Bleph", which seems to be a word for devil.

Blepharo comes from the Greek word Blepharon for eyelid.

 

[mrblue]

i think phyll means leaf as opposed to sheet but its a similar idea i guess. i think phyllium is a leaf insect genus? i could be wrong but that would make more sense. also stuff with "ocell" usually has something to do with eyes, i dont know if that wa smentioned already.

 

[Orin]

Empusa was a monster that ate travelers on the roads it inhabited. Idol doesn't refer to a 'strange look' but is a motionless figure that can't move (though it's secondarily an apparition referring to lack of movement and ability to blend in like phasmids). Harpax is a Greek word meaning "rapacious" (appetite) and is also the species name for a mantis shrimp.

 

[darkspeed]

Lots of differences in translation also make it difficult to make sense of the scientific names. When I searched for "phyllo" on yahoo I got "greek word for sheet" and a hundred hits for phyllo dough. When I Googled "phyllo meaning" I got leaf on the first hit. Stupid yahoo! Phyllo meaning leaf as well does make sense in regards to phyllocrania. Being that I speak spanish, it makes it a little easier to get a rough idea of what alot of the latin means, but when you throw greek in there it just messes it all up.