[Taxacom] Aenetus versus Achladaeus

[Ian Kitching]

Let's not beat about the bush and call a spade a spade - what is being talked about here is the NHMUK's LepIndex database, of which I am now the "owner". LepIndex online was originally a project to make the extensive card indexes of the NHMUK available online to everyone because many people were coming to visit solely to consult those indexes, rich as they were in unpublished data added over the years by NHMUK staff. I will not defend the decision taken years ago to then feed this database to Species2000 and thence on to all and sundry, as it is seriously embarrassing, but it happened. What also happened was a contraction in funding and a refocussing of priorities that meant updating and editing of this and many other databases did not happen. Furthermore, being on the NHMUK website and so within its firewall meant that no-one outside could edit it. We did have a system for submission of corrections but as staff left for various reasons this fell into disuse.
Anyway, that is history. A few years ago Chris Lyal and I obtained some funding to begin to look into updating LepIndex and moving it to a more open, community-friendly platform. With the help of Justin Ollerenshaw and Peter Wing, supported by Data Manager Adrian Hine, we updated the higher classification and as much of the species level classification as we could before the money ran out. We were then aiming to transfer LepIndex, merged with the Generic Names database, to a Species File. This we still aim to do but to the newer system being developed by that team, Taxon Works. It was slow going as this was not an official NHMUK digital project but we are getting there. The database will be moved shortly (I hope). Once in Taxon Works, and once the front end of that system has been worked out, we would be looking for specialists to register to act as curators of certain groups. At that point, they can begin to remove the remaining issues.

And, yes, in the current offline version of LepIndex, Aenetus is the valid name, as we updated that group from Gaden Robinson's checklist and the Moths of Australia Checklist.


"Just to bring the matter to conclusion, Tony's updating of the Achladaeus

vs Aenetus problem in IRMING has recognized that the former is a nomen

nudum. It is nice to see this quick response (thank you Tony) but it does

point to the liability of databases that establish or present names without

citation of published sources and clear explanation of the authenticity of

the name. In this case I understand that the original database with the

Achladaeus name was a database of card files in the institution that then

got transitioned without appropriate oversight into a public  taxonomic

names database and so a name that would otherwise never caught attention

took off like a wildfire. No doubt the problem will persist until that

institution applies the necessary resources to verify its entries (or take
the database offline for the time being).2
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Dr Ian J. Kitching, Research Entomologist, Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, U.K.

Tel: (+44) (0)20 7942 5608 | Fax: (+44) (0)20 7942 5229 | email: I.Kitching at nhm.ac.uk<mailto:I.Kitching at nhm.ac.uk>
Home page: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/staff-directory/entomology/i-kitching/index.html
Sphingidae Taxonomic Inventory: http://sphingidae.myspecies.info
Sphingidae of South-East Asia version 1.5: http://www.sphin-sea.unibas.ch<http://www.sphin-sea.unibas.ch/>
Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic: http://tpittaway.tripod.com/china/china.htm
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