John Epler, the guy who named Dicrotendipes thanantogratis after the Grateful
Dead, has a web page of his own (www.freenet.tlh.fl.us/~johneplr/names.htm)
that includes other odd names including  Lalpa lusa, Agra vation and Etu
brutus.  The fact that most of the strange names belong to insects raises the
question of the sanity of those who choose not to study mollucs.

Larry Eaton
Raleigh, NC


Kevin S. Cummings wrote:

> >Andrew Vik
> >Tampa, FL., USA
> >[log in to unmask]
> >
> >Dear Conchlers:
> >
> >Not long ago, one of you mentioned a landsnail species dubbed Ba
> >humbugi. This reminded me of other humorous molluscan names, like
> >Ittibittium (a generic name for some very small cerithiids) and
> >Distorsio anus (which is only funny when viewing a photo of said
> >species). Can anyone think of any other intentionally, or non
> >intentionally, humorous nomenclature?
> >
> >Andrew
> >
>
> There was a t-shirt at the North American Bethological Society (NABS)
> meetings a few years back that featured a chironomid (freshwater fly) with
> the specific epithet of thanatogratis which if I understand it correctly
> translates to Grateful Dead.
>
> Kevin S. Cummings
> Illinois Natural History Survey
> 607 E. Peabody Drive
> Champaign, IL 61820
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/collections/mollusk.html