1 Topic by Syrphus

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

Topic: Carabus cancellatus/granulatus

Chasing up a rogue record of C. cancellatus, today, which should have been granulatus, I find a problem that has affected a number of providers, I think.  The R6 import wizard, taking in Carabus granulatus, defaults without prompt or highlight to the 'sensu Stephens' version, which is returned as part of C. cancellatus.  That explains my single rogue, and will probably explain the mass of other cancellatus (which according to John Walters has not been seen since 1895) on the Gateway map.

I think this must have been OK in an older version of R6, as it only affected a record I imported last summer, and not those imported previously.

Murdo

Syrphus's Website

2 Reply by ChrisR

  • ChrisR
  • Administrator
  • Offline
  • Registered: 27-08-2011
  • Posts: 1,131

Re: Carabus cancellatus/granulatus

I've got a feeling that this is more a problem with the import wizard (C. granulatus exists in the database) but if I can do anything from the data point of view to help then I will just need some prompting from the R6 people :)

Chris Raper, Manager of the UK Species Inventory, Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity,
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD.  (tel: 020 7942 5894)
also Tachinid Recording Scheme (http://tachinidae.org.uk/)

3 Reply by Syrphus

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

Re: Carabus cancellatus/granulatus

Thanks, Chris.  I think you may well be right, so I have posted it again under R6 bugs.

M.

Syrphus's Website

4 Reply by Syrphus

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

Re: Carabus cancellatus/granulatus

Maybe it is a dictionary problem after all, Chris.  See the thread in 'Troubleshooting and Bug Reports' and Gordon Barker's comment.

M.

Syrphus's Website

5 Reply by Gordon Barker

  • Gordon Barker
  • Veteran
  • Offline
  • Registered: 15-05-2006
  • Posts: 344

Re: Carabus cancellatus/granulatus

Somewhere inbetween the dictionary and the wizard. My theory is that the wizard is looking for a match for Carabus granulatus, and because of the bracketed subgenus doesn't fit it to the correct taxon Carabus (Carabus) granulatus, so the nearest match would be the synonym of C. cancellatus. If this is right could there be several other cases in the lists with subgenera where this might happen?

Gordon Barker
Biological Survey Data Manager
National Trust

6 Reply by Syrphus

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

Re: Carabus cancellatus/granulatus

If you are right, it is another argument for doing away with subgenera in the dictionaries.  I don't know anyone who finds them other than a complete irritation and irrelevance, but someone on these forums said a year or so back that it was best practice, and that was what would be followed.  But that's another story!

M.

Syrphus's Website

7 Reply by ChrisR

  • ChrisR
  • Administrator
  • Offline
  • Registered: 27-08-2011
  • Posts: 1,131

Re: Carabus cancellatus/granulatus

Bracketed subgenera in names is a difficult issue - some taxonomists love them and others don't. Personally, I quite like them where they give you additional information about subgroupings in very large genera (such as Sarcophaga) but if taken too far they can cause problems when searching for species in a list.

What Gordon suggests might be happening with the wizard sounds very plausible but it will be a tricky one to program around, I think.

Chris Raper, Manager of the UK Species Inventory, Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity,
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD.  (tel: 020 7942 5894)
also Tachinid Recording Scheme (http://tachinidae.org.uk/)