ICZN gender question

[Thomas Lammers]

At 12:40 AM 5/23/01 -0400, you wrote:
>I am naming a new butterfly subspecies. The genus ends in ium, the species
>ends in ii, and the subspecies spelling I have chosen is meridionalis
>(southern). My understanding is that the ium is neuter (neutral). If I
>have missed something here please advise.

-ium is a Second Declension noun of neuter gender in nominative case.

-ii is a Second Declension noun of either masculine or neuter gender in
genitive case.  Genitives do not have to agree in number or gender with the
nouns they modify.

Meridionalis is nominative singular masculine or feminine; meridionale is
nominative singular neuter.

Ergo, you want "meridionale" for your subspecific epithet, to agree in
case, number, and gender with the noun it modifies (the generic name).

Thomas G. Lammers, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor and Curator of the Herbarium (OSH)
Department of Biology and Microbiology
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901-8640 USA

e-mail:       lammers at uwosh.edu
phone:      920-424-1002
fax:           920-424-1101

Plant systematics; classification, nomenclature, evolution, and
biogeography of the Campanulaceae s. lat.

Webpages:
http://www.uwosh.edu/departments/biology/Lammers.htm
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Resort/7156/lammers.html
http://www.uwosh.edu/departments/biology/herbarium/herbarium.html
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