Andrzej passed this message on to me:

Dear colleagues,

I received today from Frank Menzel the sad news that Dr Hubert Schumann passed away on 10 April of this year, shortly before his 80th birthday. From 1962 to 1996 he was the curator of Diptera at the Zoological Museum of Berlin, and for me a valued colleague over many years.

Best regards,

Adrian Pont

Ellinor Michel on Taxacom:

News on Names!

Drosophila melanogaster - Opinion issued on Case 3407 "A case that challenges the name of the biologists' favourite research subject, Drosophila melanogaster, commonly known as 'Drosophila, the fruit fly', has concluded. The case submitted to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), proposed that the name Drosophila melanogaster be protected as a combination, but this was not supported by the Commission. This means that the fruit fly¹s name is likely to change to Sophophora melanogaster if results of a new evolutionary analysis are accepted."

With more information, publicity, and commentary:
ICZN News page
Nature: What's in a name? Fly world is abuzz
TimesOnline Identity crisis for fly that's the apple of scientists' eye
The Loom/Discover Magazine Drosophila, We Hardly Knew Ye
The Australian - Row over fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster name bugs scientists
Fox News - Fruit Fly Identity Crisis Dividing Scientists

on Twitter #Drosophaclypse and elsewhere...

(let us know of further coverage when you see it!)

Dr Ellinor Michel

Executive Secretary
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD
+44 (0)207-942-5653 (alternative number -5516)
iczn-em@nhm.ac.uk

Neal L. Evenhuis, James E. O'Hara, Thomas Pape & Adrian C. Pont, 2010. Nomenclatural studies toward a world list of Diptera genus-group names. Part I: André-Jean-Baptiste Robineau-Desvoidy. - Zootaxa 2373: 1–265.

First paragraph of the two page long abstract:
This is the first in a series of rigorous nomenclatural studies of selected Diptera workers, undertaken as part of the Biosystematic Database of World Diptera (BDWD). A total of 566 genus-group names of Diptera proposed by A.-J.-B. Robineau-Desvoidy are listed, each with all originally included nominal species, method of typification, current taxonomic status, and emendations. A detailed biography of Robineau-Desvoidy is given with discussion of his works and his relationships with contemporaries. In addition, an index to all the species-group names of Diptera proposed by Robineau-Desvoidy (3,204) is given with bibliographic reference to each original citation. Appended to this study are a full bibliography of Robineau-Desvoidy’s works, a list of collectors on which Robineau-Desvoidy based his Diptera studies, a list of collecting localities mentioned in his Diptera works, and a reproduction of the little-known but valuable 1826 Blainville Rapport of Robineau-Desvoidy’s 1830 Essai sur les Myodaires.

A recently published paper in Diversity:

The Study of Species in the Era of Biodiversity: A Tale of Stupidity

Abstract: Research policies ensuing from the Convention on Biological Diversity made huge funds available to study biodiversity. These were mostly dedicated to projects aimed at providing services to taxonomy via information and technology, or to develop “modern”, i.e., molecular, approaches to taxonomy. Traditional taxonomy was overly neglected and is in serious distress all over the world. It is argued that both novel and traditional ways to study biodiversity are essential and that the demise of traditional taxonomy (based on phenotypes) in the era of biodiversity is the result of an unwise policy, mainly fostered by portions of the scientific community that aim at taking total advantage of the funds dedicated to the study of biodiversity.

The paper can be downloaded HERE.

The latest issue of the Fruit Fly Newsletter has just been published. The pdf file can be downloaded HERE.