[Taxacom] wikipedia & taxonomical authority

[Doug Yanega]

>As for Roderic's comment:
>
>Wikipedia: The taxonomic community seems 
>somehow afraid of them, yet I suggest this is not based on much more 
>than folklore.
>
>Let me give a real example of this "folklore"
>
>The wikipedia has an entry for "Hoverfly" [European common name for
>family Syrphidae, Order Diptera; known in North America as flower flies]
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melangyna_viridiceps
>
>They include a picture of a species identified as "Melangyna
>viridiceps," an endemic Australian species. Unfortunately, the picture
>is of Simosyrphus grandicornis.  In the references, there is a link to
>CSIRO photo gallery where there is a picture of the real Melangyna
>viridiceps.
>http://www.ento.csiro.au/aicn/name_c/a_980.htm

It's simple enough, then, Chris. Just edit the page. It took me a 
grand total of about 10 minutes to get the whole mess straightened 
out. If we, as taxonomists, refuse to contribute to efforts such as 
Wikipedia by investing a little of our time when we encounter a 
problem such as this, then we have no right to complain.

Sincerely,
-- 

Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314        skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
              http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82