quiz (taxonomy)

[Barry M. OConnor]

At 11:17 AM -0300 11/20/1998, Doug Yanega wrote:
... Or *should* I just go ahead and
>designate a neotype, preserving Macquart's name, knowing that there's no
>way anything is going to turn up to clearly contradict such a designation?

I'd vote for the neotype.  Since the name is apparently in current use, you
would cause more confusion by having to set aside the old type-species (by
act of the ICZN) and replacing it with a new one.  Since it won't make any
difference which of the two possible species you use for the neotype, I'd
pick the one which was geographically closer to the original type-locality,
assuming you don't have specimens from the exact original locality.

Barry M. OConnor                phone: (734) 763-4354
Museum of Zoology               FAX: (734) 763-4080
University of Michigan          e-mail: bmoc at umich.edu
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079  USA