• happybadger [he/him]
      ·
      2 months ago

      Or tell him he's the Lord of the Flies for being a Hemiptera expert and see what he does.

    • Nakoichi [they/them]
      ·
      2 months ago

      My bio professor basically admitted to us that a lot of that pedantry is pure smugness and nobody cares. Further still, all those names are so complicated because scientists love to try to one up each other on difficult to pronounce and needlessly long latin names.

  • azi@mander.xyz
    ·
    2 months ago

    Anyone know what the first known case of 'bug' exclusively referring to Hemipterans/Heteropterans? The first use of bug being applied to arthropods was in the 1620s in reference to bedbugs (in Hemiptera but not Heteroptera) with the term ladybug (not in Hemiptera) first attested in the 1690s. Both predate Linnean taxonomy. So why and when did entomologists decide to coin this highly restrictive definition? It's a very English-language term so it surely wasn't when the taxon was created by Linnaeus.