[Taxacom] Taxonomic carelessness - the case of Francis Walker

[Neal Evenhuis]

At 10:22 AM +1000 8/22/09, Bob Mesibov wrote:
>
>I've been told, though, that for sheer 
>incompetence and disruptiveness, no one comes 
>close to Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz. 
>Someone more familiar with Rafinesquerie might 
>like to comment.

Rafinesque certainly had his quirks (especially 
describing Audubon's nonexistent "devil jack 
diamond fish" Litholepis adamantinus)

... but nothing beats the infamous feat of 
Robineau-Desvoidy (1799-1857), who described 248 
junior synonyms! for one single species, the 
tachinid fly Phryxe vulgaris (Fallén), all from 
the environs of Paris. Most he distinguished only 
by small color differences.

Reference: Wainwright, C.J. (1928) The British 
Tachinidae (Diptera). Transactions of the 
Entomological Society of London, 76, 139-254.