[Taxacom] Help with a locality

[Michael A. Ivie]

Dear Mohammad,

This situation sounds like something that I think is absorbing a lot of 
time in our community: wasting time on things that have no benefit.  I 
have three questions about these specimens:

Are they vouchers for a publication?

Are they a species so rare that even a specimen without data is actually 
valuable scientifically?

If these specimens did not exist, would there be any impact on science?

It looks like the answer to these questions in this case is "no."

Therefore, in trying to follow every specimen to a per-determined end, 
your colleague is wasting valuable time trying to solve a problem that, 
even if it were solved, would have no benefit.

Chasing this type of specimen down a rabbit hole is very widespread in 
our  community, I have done it, and probably will fall into the trap of 
doing it in the future, but our most limiting resource in museum work is 
time, and we must guard against using it on efforts that will have zero 
impact.  But, in the time your colleague spends on this useless pursuit, 
they could have databased a dozen or more truly valuable specimens.

Tell them to just let it go.

Mike



On 7/28/2017 4:23 AM, Mohammad Al-Zein wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> I am writing this on behalf of a colleague of mine who is curating burying
> beetles collected by Peyron.  Two specimens of Necrophorus vestigator were
> collected from a locality referred to as Mlle (or possibly Mile).  The
> locality is perhaps in France.  Does anybody have any idea what Mlle stands
> for?  Could it be Marseille for instance given that the two insects were
> placed with a third beetle of the same species collected in Marseille?
>
> Any help is much appreciated.
>
> Regards,
>
> Mohammad
> _______________________________________________
> Taxacom Mailing List
> Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/taxacom
> The Taxacom Archive back to 1992 may be searched at: http://taxacom.markmail.org
>
>
> Nurturing Nuance while Assaulting Ambiguity for 30 Some Years, 1987-2017.

-- 
__________________________________________________

Michael A. Ivie, Ph.D., F.R.E.S.

NOTE: two addresses with different Zip Codes depending on carriers

US Post Office Address:
Montana Entomology Collection
Marsh Labs, Room 50
PO Box 173145
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717
USA

UPS, FedEx, DHL Address:
Montana Entomology Collection
Marsh Labs, Room 50
1911 West Lincoln Street
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59718
USA


(406) 994-4610 (voice)
(406) 994-6029 (FAX)
mivie at montana.edu