Talk:Monomorium viridum

Dear ant folk:

Many in recent years have followed my suggestion in http://gap.entclub.org/taxonomists/Trager/1888Advances.pdf, and Barry Bolton’s similar suggestion in the print version of his 1995 New General Catalogue of the Ants of the World, that Monomorium viridum should be called “M. viride”. This is to provide notice that now is the time to desist from further use of this latter combination. Aaron Ellison and coauthors, I’m especially sorry I didn’t get this to you before your (first edition of the) field guide to Ants of New England went to press.

Note that the change to “viride” was never formally proposed as an emendation of the original name, and Barry has made a decision to dispense with even citing the form “viride” in the updates to the catalog, even though it appears in various publications and websites.

So here you have it, right out of the latest update to catalog, with nary a mention of “viride”, the entry on this species:

viridum. Monomorium viridum Brown, 1943: 243 (w.q.) U.S.A. Crozier, 1970: 116 (k.); DuBois, 1986: 98 (m.). Senior synonym of peninsulatum: DuBois, 1986: 96.

And here is Barry’s reasoning, edited from two separate messages. I accept his argumentation, as should we all (even if it grates on our Latin sensibilities):

"… As for Bills' Monomorium, his original spelling was viridum, not viridis. If the latter it would require emendation to viride of course, but viridum is not a Latin word (though maybe Bill thought it was), so I just leave it as a neologism with a latinised neuter ending.

… As you saw, viridum is present in the catalogue (as… [above]), not viride. It has not been there as viride for quite a while. Back in the original (1995) printed version of the catalogue I had viride, as I had mistakenly recorded that Bill had viridis in the original combination. My error entirely, but as soon as I saw that Bill's original was viridum, I switched the entry to that.

In my opinion, viridum can not be altered to viride because viridum is not a Latin word. It stands … as a neologism, or maybe even an arbitrary combination of letters, with a latinised neuter ending. There really is no need to alter it... Best, Barry"

I regret my role in any confusion over the years, James Trager (27 October 2012, slightly modified from http://www.facebook.com/groups/Myrmecologists/permalink/406723192727285/)

PS – Technically, this means, if you ever find a new species of Monomorium that is green, and want to describe it as “M. viride”, you could. But I would rather strongly discourage you from doing so!