Monday Night Mystery: Oh Say Can You See

Thomas Say is widely regarded as the father of American entomology. Which of the following American insects did Say name and describe?



To earn points, be the first to give the Latin name for each of the above species described by Say.

The cumulative points winner for the month of January will win their choice of:

1) A guest post here on Myrmecos
2) Any 8×10 print from my insect photography galleries
3) A myrmecos t-shirt

Good luck!

15 thoughts on “Monday Night Mystery: Oh Say Can You See”

  1. 2. Papilio glaucus 3. Cycloneda munda 4. Eristalis bardus 5. Pyractomena angulata 6. Solenopsis molesta 7. Culex quinquefasciatus 8. Leptinotarsa decimlineata 10. Climaciella brunnea

  2. Viktor Nilsson-Örtman

    Say described:
    3. Coccinellidae: Cycloneda munda (Say 1835)
    6. Formicidae: Solenopsis molesta (Say 1836)
    7. Culicidae: Anopheles punctipennis (Say 1823)
    8. Chrysomelidae: Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say, 1824
    10. Mantispidae: Climasiella brunnea (Say in Keating, 1824).

    Say did not describe:
    1. Scarabeidae: Pelidnota punctata (Linnaeus 1758)
    2. Papilionidae: Papilio glaucus (Linnaeus 1758)
    4. Syrphidae, Eristalis sp. Say described bardus, but I think that that is a bumblebee mimic, not a bee mimic
    5. Lampyridae Photinus pyralis (Linnaeus, 1767)
    9. Siricidae- Tremex columba (Linneaus 1763) (Say described a shit load of synonyms, though!)
    11. Formicidae, Camponotus sp.
    12. Saturniidae, Hyalophora cecropia (Linnaeus, 1758)

  3. Viktor Nilsson-Örtman

    And 4. is of course Eristalis tenax (Linneaus 1758). Didn’t know it had been introduced to NA, but I am not surprised.

    1. By the way, I read a biography of Thomas Say last year. Interesting and multifaceted man. I came away with the sense that his sensitive nature and utopian idealism got in the way of his natural history, which which was nonetheless impressive. He also worked in other groups, espcially molluscs, and Say’s Phoebe (a flycatcher, for non-birders) is named for him.

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