The name of a genus is designed to be unique to a group of animals or plants but there are occasional lapses. One of the more notable ones is Pieris which is the generic name for certain white butterflies and for a group of shrubs including the Lily of the Valley Shrub – Pieris japonica.
Equally interesting is the fact that the reference to the foodplant in the specific names of the butterflies erroneously suggest that the Green-veined White (Pieris napi) caterpillars eat swede whilst they actually leaves crop plants alone and feeds on wild members of the Brassica family.
The Cabbage White is a name given to both the Large White (Pieris brassicae) and the Small White (Pieris rapae).
The Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Blog Archive
-
▼
2010
(294)
-
▼
September
(36)
- Liverpool biennial - Lee Mingwei
- Wednesday Wildlife - Pieris
- East Anglian Place Names
- Happy Monday - Just for a laugh
- Hints on English pronunciation
- Writers’ unusual pets
- Friday My Town Shoot--out - Hot or Cold
- A Week with Big Brother
- Farewell and Thank You, Nan
- Wednesday Wildlife - For Migrating Birds
- Rhinomania
- May contain...
- Happy Monday - Men!
- Water of Life
- Literary Trivia
- Friday My Town Shoot-out - Flora, Fauna and Pets
- Suggest a caption
- Wednesday Wildlife - Yelling to each other
- The Recluse
- Happy Monday - Who is your role model?
- Another chair
- Who created -
- Friday My Town Shoot-out - Stripes and Lines
- The Muffin Lady
- Elections in Exeter
- Wednesday Wildlife - A selection of cats I have ph...
- CJE in Exeter
- What price a Melon?
- Happy Monday - Oops!
- A collection of canes
- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
- Friday My Town Shoot-out
- Cat and Mouse
- A fluted letter box
- A major revolution
- Wednesday Wildlife - The Mute Swan
-
▼
September
(36)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Hello - thanks for dropping by to leave a comment. Your comments are much appreciated even if I don't always reply. They will appear as soon as they have been moderated.