Adhemarius gannascus jamaicensis, July 2004,
Mockingbird Hill Hotel, Port Antonio, Portland, Jamiaca,
courtesy of Tony and Pat James.
This site has been created by
Bill Oehlke at oehlkew@islandtelecom.com
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.
TAXONOMY:Superfamily: Sphingoidea, Dyar, 1902 |
"What.A.Wonderful.World" |
The pronunciation of scientific names is
troublesome for many. The "suggestion" at the top of the page is
merely a suggestion. It is based on commonly
accepted English pronunciation of Greek/Roman or historical
names and/or some fairly well accepted "rules" for latinized
scientific names.
The suggested pronunciations, on this page and on other pages,
are primarily put forward to assist those who hear with internal
ears as they read.
There are many collectors from different countries whose
intonations and accents would be different.
Some of the early describers/namers chose genus
and species names indicating some character of the insect, but more
often, they simply chose names from Greek or Roman mythology or
history. Those species names which end in "ensis" indicate a
specimen locale, and those which end in "i", pronounced "eye", honour
a contempory friend/collector/etc.
José Oiticica Filho (1906 - 1964), the French entomologist/photographer who assigned the genus name, Adhemarius, possibly chose the name from Adhemarus, the fifth and last of the old counts of Querci (Verdun, France) who died in 880 AD.
Gannascus is for a German chief and military leader who fought against the expanding Roman Empire.
The subspecies name is for "Jamaica" the specimen type locality.
Adhemarius gannascus jamaicensis courtesy of Jean Haxaire.
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