Well the way i see it unless your tryin to be a scientist or something who cares about the scientific name it isnt important unless there are multi species of the same then you gotta put it..But where not tryin to major in mantids lol atleast im not haha its just a hobby for me thats my opinion on the matter.. =]
Scientific v. popular names for mantids
- Thread starter PhilinYuma
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Ntsees
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I use both common and scientific names. I use common names when I think people will understand what species I mean. For example, in this forum, I can use the common name European mantid and everyone should know what species I'm referring to. But, in those cases where someone doesn't know what I'm talking about, they can ask and I'll tell them the scientific name. If there is such a thing, I'd like to know what other mantid species also uses the European mantid for it's common name besides Mantis religiosa. In regards to the "flower mantid" species, there are a lot of them and so scientific names would probably be most appropriate.
Or we can write like those peer-reviewed articles where both common and scientific names are used so that there will be no confusion at all: In central California, the Mediterrean mantid (Iris oratoria) is an introduced mantis species and has become naturalized in bla-bla-bla....
Or we can write like those peer-reviewed articles where both common and scientific names are used so that there will be no confusion at all: In central California, the Mediterrean mantid (Iris oratoria) is an introduced mantis species and has become naturalized in bla-bla-bla....
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When telling that there were some efforts to name all Nearctic birds, reptiles and amphibians, it just encourages what I have written about diversity. You can count holartic amphibians on a few hands, and even if the Nearctic has some very diverse clades (lungless salamanders), you still can overview them all and finally, name them vernaculary, if you like. Giving beetles vernacular names is nonsense. There are several ten, maybe 100, thousands of Holarctic species, you may name the large ones, but trying to give long and confusing names to the samller and diverse ones is just waste of time, as noone would use them.
Regardless what you do in the temperate zone, it becomes impossible for tropical taxa. How to name 60 identiocally looking Eremiaphila species? Or over 100 Hierodula species? Or 40 Miomantis? It makes things much more complicated, as you have to remember 40 different compound names, while only one generic and 40 specific denominations, not talking about regionally biased and similar stuff. Making mistakes while typing the name is not really a problem, I have seen most vernacular names spelled wrong regularly, so there isn't much a difference.
Reprising this "laziness" and "ignorance" issue, it may well be, and I don't have a problem with it, a biased opinion, but a well-supported one. Scientific names are understood by everyone, common names are regionally biased. In an international forum, irrespective by whom it is hosted, there should be an common language, so that all can understand it. It is accepted by everyone that the language to communicate is English, as it is spoken to a certain extent by most. I could argue that we should talk in German, or French, as the two most important mantid books were written in this languages. Everyone will agree that no English native wants to use a foreign language on an English forum; after all, the others joined it and have to adapt to the host language. This is ok, of course, otherwise some of us won't be here.
But, talking about scientific (= internationally understandable) names is different, as English isn't the language of choice here. I can't expect that Dutch or Belgians or French understand what I species am talking about in a German forum, when I am not using the binomial, even if they barely can read or write German. You can understand a language whithout knowing the regional names for species. But you can't communicate then on this subject. The "European Mantid" is known as the "Common mantis" or just "praying mantis" in Middle Europe. In Singular, as only one species occurs here. What should a Mexican or Malayan guy think of when talking about "Common mantis"? Most common mantid names are US-biased, and no native person of the introduced mantis would name its species "European" or "Chinese".
To make it short, what we meant by "laziness" and "ignorance" is that the whole international community agrees to use an international language, which is English for communication and binomials for species names, thus using two (!) foreign languages, while the Anglophonics, which don't even habe to use a forein language to communicate, also refuse to use binomials as the only foreign stuff they have to apply to fit the international communication rules.
I am aware that this lines may not be welcome by everyone, but I am far beyond caring of such stuff.
Regardless what you do in the temperate zone, it becomes impossible for tropical taxa. How to name 60 identiocally looking Eremiaphila species? Or over 100 Hierodula species? Or 40 Miomantis? It makes things much more complicated, as you have to remember 40 different compound names, while only one generic and 40 specific denominations, not talking about regionally biased and similar stuff. Making mistakes while typing the name is not really a problem, I have seen most vernacular names spelled wrong regularly, so there isn't much a difference.
Reprising this "laziness" and "ignorance" issue, it may well be, and I don't have a problem with it, a biased opinion, but a well-supported one. Scientific names are understood by everyone, common names are regionally biased. In an international forum, irrespective by whom it is hosted, there should be an common language, so that all can understand it. It is accepted by everyone that the language to communicate is English, as it is spoken to a certain extent by most. I could argue that we should talk in German, or French, as the two most important mantid books were written in this languages. Everyone will agree that no English native wants to use a foreign language on an English forum; after all, the others joined it and have to adapt to the host language. This is ok, of course, otherwise some of us won't be here.
But, talking about scientific (= internationally understandable) names is different, as English isn't the language of choice here. I can't expect that Dutch or Belgians or French understand what I species am talking about in a German forum, when I am not using the binomial, even if they barely can read or write German. You can understand a language whithout knowing the regional names for species. But you can't communicate then on this subject. The "European Mantid" is known as the "Common mantis" or just "praying mantis" in Middle Europe. In Singular, as only one species occurs here. What should a Mexican or Malayan guy think of when talking about "Common mantis"? Most common mantid names are US-biased, and no native person of the introduced mantis would name its species "European" or "Chinese".
To make it short, what we meant by "laziness" and "ignorance" is that the whole international community agrees to use an international language, which is English for communication and binomials for species names, thus using two (!) foreign languages, while the Anglophonics, which don't even habe to use a forein language to communicate, also refuse to use binomials as the only foreign stuff they have to apply to fit the international communication rules.
I am aware that this lines may not be welcome by everyone, but I am far beyond caring of such stuff.
