ICZN rules for nom. nov.

[wollastoni]

In 1996, my late friend Henk van Mastrigt renamed Delias campbelli maria Toxopeus, 1937, in Delias campbelli cyclops to avoid confusion with Delias mariae Joicey & Talbot, 1916.
Confusion did happen as Roepke placed Delias mariae as a ssp. of Delias campbelli.

So it was a good idea to rename Delias campbelli maria in Delias campbelli cyclops to avoid confusion.

This said, after discussing that with some friends from CUNY and the University of Hawaii, they told me van Mastrigt could not rename Delias campbelli maria in something else as maria is a subspecies and mariae a species, so there is no confusion at stake according to ICZN rules.

Adam (or any other ICZN specialist), could you confirm that ?
I need to update the Delias website if Henk did not follow the rules.

[bobw]

You can't give anything a new name unless the original name is invalid, even if it's to avoid confusion. The only way that maria would be invalid is if it's a homonym, and the single letter difference is enough for it not to be, there are plenty of such instances. So cyclops has no standing and becomes a objective synonym of maria.

I could look up the relevant parts of the Code and give the references, but I don't have time for that right now.

[adamcotton]

Olivier,

Your CUNY and University of Hawaii friends are almost correct. Where they were incorrect is suggesting that there is a difference between species and subspecies names (I suspect you may have misunderstood what they were telling you). There are three types of names governed by the ICZN Code - family-group, genus-group and species-group names. Within each group ALL names are equal and can be applied at different levels. Thus a name in the species group can be used either at species or subspecies level, depending on the taxonomic opinion of the author. It does not matter whether that name was originally introduced as a species or a subspecies.

The names maria Toxopeus, 1937 and mariae Joicey & Talbot, 1916 are not homonyms even though both are species-group names in genus Delias so it was incorrect of Henk van Mastrigt to replace maria with cyclops, and the latter is a junior objective synonym of maria. The only valid reason to propose a nomen novum is if the previous name is unavailable (either infrasubspecific from the original description, a nomen nudum or a junior homonym), and only in the case of homonymy can a new name be proposed as a replacement for the old one. In other cases it has to be described as a new taxon.

I appreciate that it is confusing that there are two subspecies of Delias campbelli, one called maria and another called mariae, but there is nothing that can be done about that under the ICZN Code.

Adam.

[wollastoni]

Thank you Bob and Adam. If I understand correctly, it's the additional letter "e" (between maria and mariae) that prevents Henk from making this change.
I will correct the Delias website. Should we publish that correction in a future publication or is it non necessary ? I can easily add that to a future Delias paper.

I appreciate that it is confusing that there are two subspecies of Delias campbelli, one called maria and another called mariae, but there is nothing that can be done about that under the ICZN Code.

That's not the case :
- maria is a ssp of Delias campbelli
- mariae is another Delias species.
See my first post for pictures.

[adamcotton]

Ah, I understood they were still conspecific because you stated:

"Confusion did happen as Roepke placed Delias mariae as a ssp. of Delias campbelli."

You could mention that cyclops Mastrigt is a junior objective synonym of maria Toxopeus, 1937 in a future publication.

Adam.

[Chuck]

Sort of on topic:

When a ssp is elevated to species status, must the name be retained?

Good example, Papilio glaucus canadensis was elevated to species status, did they have to name it Papilio canadensis, or could they have selected a new name?

[bobw]

Yes, because it's a species-group name, which doesn't differentiate between species and subspecies. Whether canadensis is regarded as a species of subspecies, the taxon is still canadensis.