1 Reply by Syrphus

  • Syrphus
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  • From: Strathpeffer, Highland
  • Registered: 16-12-2008
  • Posts: 535

Re: Thora[co]bombus

I am no great fan of subgenera, but I have been puzzled by the use of Thoracombus as the subgenus for carder bees.  Logic always suggested that it should be ThoracoBOmbus, but R6 and NBNG have Thoracombus and I had lazily assumed that it was some historical misprint that had persisted.

However, most Google results - and more importantly Paul Williams at NHM (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/bombus/th.html) - use ThoracoBOmbus, so I would expect that to be the correct form, and I think the dictionary entry should be:

Thoracobombus Dalla Torre, 1880.

I seem not to be the only one who has been misled, as the BWARS Handbook uses Thoracombus as well (so I am in good, and probably equally embarrassed company).  Also the OU site www.iSpot.org.uk and other resources linked to the R6/NBN aculeate dictionary.

Murdo

Syrphus's Website

2 Reply by CharlesHussey

  • CharlesHussey
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  • From: The Natural History Museum
  • Registered: 11-05-2007
  • Posts: 174

Re: Thora[co]bombus

Hi Murdo,

Well spotted! Looks like the miss-spellings were present in both the 2003 and 2005 versions of the British Aculeate Checklist. They got corrected in the 2007 version but I am afraid that I did not pick this up. All is now correct in the Species Dictionary and will find its way into the next update to Recorder. NB the miss-spelled versions of the names are retained (as they have appeared in print), but are mapped to the correctly spelled versions.

Best wishes,

Charles Hussey

NBN Species Dictionary Project Manager (Retired!) smile