[Odonata-l] Etymology of Libellula incesta...

[John Acorn]

Odesters,

Thought you might enjoy a limerick from the Nehallenia irene section  
of my book on Alberta damselflies:

There once was a damsel, Irene
Who was glittering, glamorous green--
	Was a goddess her namesake,
	Or memories of heartbreak
In Herr Dr. Hagen's late teens?

You might also get a kick out of the somewhat parallel situation in  
the noctuid moth genus Catocala, with names such as C. sordida, C.  
desperata, C. lachrymosa ("tearful"), as well as plenty of references  
to marriage, courtship, and women's names, including (yes) C. irene,  
named by Herman Behr in 1870.  Nehallenia irene was named by Hagen in  
1861.  Hmmmm... I wonder...?

John Acorn
Edmonton, Canada

On May 30, 2007, at 8:23 AM, Ola Fincke wrote:

> Dennis -
>
> Your notes are fascinating!
> I think there's a PhD thesis here for a psych student!  I wonder if  
> anyone has written a biography of Hagen.  Maybe that's what I can  
> do in my dotage. What do you bet he was polygamous??
> And now I understand why I've always liked E. ebrium.
>
> Ola
>
> Ola Fincke
> Dept. of Zoology
> University of Oklahoma
> Norman, OK 73019
> Tel: 405-325-5514
> Fax: 405-325-6202
>
>
>
>
> On May 29, 2007, at 6:33 PM, Dennis Paulson wrote:
>
>> Dear Michel,
>>
>> Hagen applied many strange and often undecipherable names to  
>> odonate species. For example, Sympetrum corruptum (corrupted),  
>> Sympetrum illotum (dirty), Dromogomphus spoliatus (plundered),  
>> Brechmorhoga mendax (lying, deceiving), Enallagma praevarum  
>> (unsteady), Enallagma ebrium (drunken).
>>
>> Sid Dunkle and I, in our checklist of North American odonates,  
>> tried to figure out the origin of these names but failed in many  
>> cases. For Libellula incesta, we wrote "incestuous, perhaps  
>> alluding to looking like a hybrid between other closely related  
>> species," but this was pure speculation. Hagen never explained the  
>> etymology of any of his names, and they will remain unexplained.  
>> Who, for example, were Irene, Elisa, and Amanda, all species names  
>> coined by him?
>>
>> Dennis
>>
>> On May 29, 2007, at 2:15 PM, Pilon, Michel wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> My question concerns the etymology of the scientific name for the  
>>> "Slaty skimmer" which is "Libellula incesta"...
>>>
>>> Do you have any idea why they chose the name "incesta" for this  
>>> species???
>>>
>>> In french, this skimmer is called "Libellule voluptueuse" where  
>>> "volupteuse" means "voluptuous" in english....
>>>
>>> Any comment about where those names may come from???
>>>
>>> Thank you very much in advance!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Michel
>>>
>>> Michel Pilon
>>> Québec, Canada
>>> Mes Parcours Nature:
>>> http://parcours.pilonm.org
>>>
>>> Quiz de chants d'oiseaux
>>> http://parcours.pilonm.org/cgi-bin/sonOiseaux.pl
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Odonata-l mailing list
>>> Odonata-l at listhost.ups.edu
>>> https://mailweb.ups.edu/mailman/listinfo/odonata-l
>>
>> -----
>> Dennis Paulson
>> 1724 NE 98 St.
>> Seattle, WA 98115
>> 206-528-1382
>> dennispaulson at comcast.net
>>
>>
>>
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