[Taxacom] distribution of Proterhinus (Coleoptera)

Wed Jul 22 03:24:05 CDT 2009

[Michael Heads] the coleopterists have a way to go before they're up  
with other groups - 'more funding required', as they say

[reply] Well, Michael, my new friend, there are an awful lot of  
Coleoptera - though quite how many compared to say Hymenoptera is up  
for debate. Who was it that said, in response to the slogan "God had  
an inordinate fondness for beetles", that "Coleopterists have an  
inordinate fondness for exaggeration!" ???

I have made a solid start on Wikispecies Coleoptera, and indeed for  
New Zealand Coleoptera I maintain the only up-to-date and "complete"  
generic list:
http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Stho002/New_Zealand#Coleoptera

As for 'more funding required', I have to wonder how much is enough? I  
would have thought that $19m over 4 years spread over 45 scientists,  
one of which is a coleopterist, would have resulted in at least one  
new species of N.Z. beetle described since 2007, but instead we just  
get (publicly funded) oddball outputs like, for example:

Leschen, R.A.B. et al. 2009: The use of tag-names and New Zealand  
taxonomy. New Zealand entomologist, 32: 85-87.

http://www.ento.org.nz/nzentomologist/new_issues/NZEnto32_1_2009/Volume_32_85-87.pdf

Let me quote a passage:

A further insidious danger of tag-names is that they
become used as a quick and dirty substitute for rigorous
taxonomy. Once a tag-name has become established
in the literature, there may be a feeling that the taxon
in question has received the recognition it needs to be
included in policy, reviews and field-guides, and the
motivation for urgent taxonomic description is thus
blunted. If this is allowed to become a regular process,
the proliferation of tag-named entities can only bring
New Zealand science into disrepute

To paraphrase the above quote: 'more funding required'...

Funny, I thought 'tag names' were a useful first step in the revision  
process. Certainly, the study of N.Z. landsnails has thrived by use of  
them to at least create a workable system until such time that they  
can all be formally described, whereas nobody knows where they are  
with all the undescribed beetles...

Stephen

Quoting Michael Heads <michael.heads at yahoo.com>:

> Dear Chris and Doug, also Steve Thorpe,
>  
> Thanks very much for the help with this. A quick note to taxacom  
> beats GBIF, EOL, google scholar, wikispecies etc. hands down. It  
> seems the coleopterists have a way to go before they're up  
> with other groups - 'more funding required', as they say. GBIF is  
> very useful for many plant taxa, although have a look at the  
> beautifully delineated US/Canada border on the map of, e.g., the  
> huge family Fabaceae... 
>  
> Michael Heads 
>
> Wellington, New Zealand.
>
>
> Wellington, New Zealand.
>
> My papers on biogeography are at: http://tiny.cc/RiUE0
>
> --- On Wed, 7/22/09, Chris Lyal <C.lyal at nhm.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>
> From: Chris Lyal <C.lyal at nhm.ac.uk>
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] distribution of Proterhinus (Coleoptera)
> To: TAXACOM at MAILMAN.NHM.KU.EDU
> Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 5:46 AM
>
>
> Yes, the placement of Proterhinus is now in the Belidae:  
> Oxycoryninae: Aglycyderini (see Marvaldi et al, 2006, Invertebrate  
> Systematics, 20: 447-476).  This paper includes a cladogram of all  
> genera in the Oxycoryninae. 
>
> As far as distribution goes the list given by Zimmerman is pretty  
> good, although I'm not sure about New Caledonia and I think that  
> Canary Is is an error.  To quote from Marvaldi et al:  "Proterhinus  
> consists of 167 described species, the great majority from Hawaii  
> but eight from Polynesia: three from the Marquesas (Perkins 1932,  
> 1936) and three from the Society and Austral Islands (Zimmerman and  
> Perrault 1989) in eastern Polynesia, and one from Phoenix Island  
> (Perkins 1931) and one from Samoa (Perkins 1907) in western  
> Polynesia (the latter (P. samoae) dispersed by humans with coconuts  
> throughout Polynesia and into Melanesia and Micronesia (Zimmerman  
> and Perrault 1989)). Further undescribed species have been recorded  
> from Fiji and the Austral Islands (Zimmerman 1935; Zimmerman and  
> Perrault 1989)."
>
> The putative sister-group of Proterhinus is Aralius, which is found  
> in New Zealand and New Caledonia, and the other genus in the tribe,  
> Aglycyderes, is found in the Canary Is and Morocco.
>
> Cheers,
> Chris
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu on behalf of Doug Yanega
> Sent: Tue 21/07/2009 17:17
> To: TAXACOM at MAILMAN.NHM.KU.EDU
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] distribution of Proterhinus (Coleoptera)
>
>
>
>> Dear colleagues,
>>
>> I'm trying to find the distribution of the beetle Proterhinus
>> (Proterhinidae). Nothing on Wikispecies, EOL, COL, GBIF, or the
>> other websites referred to in recent taxacom correspondence, or
>> Google scholar.  Zimmerman (1948) lists it from Hawaii (164 endemic
>> species!), plus New Zealand, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Phoenix
>> Is.,  Austral Is., Society Is., and Marquesas Is., also Canary Is.
>>
>> I'd be grateful for any further information.
>
> Is it possible that the use of an archaic family name is impeding the
> search? I've seen the family name for this genus listed as Belidae,
> Oxycorynidae, and Aglycyderidae (these latter two now often treated
> as subfamilies of Belidae), but never heard of "Proterhinidae" until
> today. A little quick digging suggests that that name was last in
> *common* use as a family name around 1910, and was formally replaced
> by Aglycyderidae by Crowson back in 1981.
>
> Peace,
> --
>
> Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
> Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314        skype: dyanega
> phone: (951) 827-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
>               http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
>    "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>          is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
>
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