[Taxacom] Example of not following the Code

[Doug Yanega]

On 4/23/14 10:48 AM, Michael A. Ivie wrote:
> OK, here is an example of what we get if people simply decide to ignore
> the Code and use names the way they want to.  I received this question
> from a Forest Service Entomologist, trying to have names correct in her
> work.  This involves literally thousands of names that will drive users
> nuts for years to come.

Frank Krell and I addressed an international meeting of the 
Lepidopterist's Society a while ago to discuss this issue with them, in 
our capacity as ICZN Commissioners. We pointed out that if this was what 
they really wanted, they could do so in compliance with the Code only if 
they prepared a LAN which listed all the names in Lepidoptera, and used 
them in the original spelling. We were told that they already have a 
complete list of all Lepidoptera names like this, so - assuming this is 
true - the bulk of the work has already been done (a LAN is more than 
just a checklist, however, and it does require a body of taxonomists who 
represent a consensus of authority). I have no idea whether any efforts 
have been made *since* that meeting to pursue this option. Until and 
unless a LAN proposal is submitted and approved, however, this 
idiosyncratic refusal to comply with the Code definitely creates chaos.

Sincerely,

-- 
Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
              http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82