nomenclature pet peeves?

[agent A]

am I the only one with pet peeves when it comes to how people talk about mantises?
here are mine:
1. When people CAPITALIZE THE SPECIES EPITHET
2. when, ON A BOARD THAT ALLOWS FOR ITALICS, latin names aren't italicised
3. the plural mantids, which TECHNICALLY is only for things in the Mantidae, is used for non-Mantidae species
4. L instead of i for instar. L is for larval instars, and mantises don't have larvae...

 

[TheWolven]

All of these are understandable concerns. However, most people on this forum are not biology majors and just own mantises because they are interesting pets. I never actually understood why you italicized the Latin names but started doing it because I figured it was important. It is nice to now have the knowledge of these bullet points though and I will keep them in mind for the future.

 

[Arthroverts]

I have a hard time being bothered by other enthusiasts' not capitalizing/italicizing/etc. properly as for many years I was that person, ha ha.

Of course, when a science writer for a newspaper does it...

Thanks,

Arthroverts

P.S Biggest bother with nomenclature is, hands-down, auto-correct.

 

[TheWolven]

P.S Biggest bother with nomenclature is, hands-down, auto-correct.

As someone who now actually uses scientific names properly, I have never hated autocorrect more.

 

[Orin]

am I the only one with pet peeves when it comes to how people talk about mantises?
here are mine:
1. When people CAPITALIZE THE SPECIES EPITHET
2. when, ON A BOARD THAT ALLOWS FOR ITALICS, latin names aren't italicised
3. the plural mantids, which TECHNICALLY is only for things in the Mantidae, is used for non-Mantidae species
4. L instead of i for instar. L is for larval instars, and mantises don't have larvae...

I'd agree with you on the first two except you missed the L.
3. Common names don't change whenever taxonomy does.
4. L is for Larvenstadium, it's German not English so it's not wrong or right.

 

[Greybeard]

Thought of one more-the latin names would have the Genus (first word) capitalized, and the species (second word) small letter.

 

[Greybeard]

Sorry-already there, missed it. Apologies.

 

[Introvertebrate]

All I can say is, poisonous tarantulas scare me.

 

[Jaunte]

All I can say is, poisonous tarantulas scare me.

Me too. I make it a habit to stay away from ingesting or being stung by poisonous spiders. I used to own a Chilean Rose hair spider - I wouldn't touch it for the life of me.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Me too. I make it a habit to stay away from ingesting or being stung by poisonous spiders. I used to own a Chilean Rose hair spider - I wouldn't touch it for the life of me.

Good thinking. Also, never get bitten by a venomous dart frog. It will ruin your day.

 

[Jaunte]

Good thinking. Also, never get bitten by a venomous dart frog. It will ruin your day.

That is silly. First off, they don’t bite. And second off, they secrete poison on their skin in reaction to strong UV radiation, so just keep yours in the dark and you’ll be fine!

 

[Greybeard]

Just to clarify::
Mantid/s for members of the Mantidae.
Mantis/es for all other families.

 

[Synapze]

I'm not picky. Just give me the genus and species I ordered and I'm happy. What I do dislike is when someone is selling misidentified specimens or "mutts".

 

[Greybeard]

Thank you!

 

[infinity]

I work in entomology professionally... BSc, MSc, PhD, postdocs, pest control, biological control, R&D... I have to agree, nothing winds me up more than others in the hobby and real professionals (e.g. biological control companies, scientists/publications etc) who don't use capitals and italics... or worse, use them wrongly!

It's Tenodera sinensis OR T. sinensis

NOT:
Tenodera sinensis
Tenodera Sinensis
tenodera sinensis
or just calling it 'Sinensis'

It also really bugs me when people give up halfway through in lists:

I have:
Tenodera sinensis <--- good
Sphodromantis spp. <--- good
European mantis <--- omg why?!

 

[TheWolven]

I work in entomology professionally... BSc, MSc, PhD, postdocs, pest control, biological control, R&D... I have to agree, nothing winds me up more than others in the hobby and real professionals (e.g. biological control companies, scientists/publications etc) who don't use capitals and italics... or worse, use them wrongly!

It's Tenodera sinensis OR T. sinensis

This is very understandable annoyance. I get it too sometimes, however, not all websites allow for italics.