Kai's research thread/caddisfly geekout

[Kai]

(Formerly Known as "I just discovered a new species today.")


ASK ME ANYTHING!!1

[Jasper]

 

What did you discover?

[Kai]

Its a caddisfly of the Genus Ceraclea in the family Leptoceridae (longhorned caddisflies) from Nigeria. I found it in one of the 35 year old Nigerian caddisfly samples I'm working through. They've been on loan from the British Museum for 25 years and they need to go back. ANYWAY.

Technically it is not completely verified yet. I was looking through a sample this morning when I kept running across this Leptocerid that didn't seem to have all the characters of a Leptocerid yet had extremely long antennae (thus the name "long horned"). I showed it to my advisor who is a worldwide expert on Leptocerids, and he said it was probably a Ceraclea. He took a closer look and said "this is an aberant Ceraclea, look at the terminalia. Its different than any I've ever seen, probably a new species." His doctorate was on the revision of the genus, so I'm pretty damn sure he knows what he is talking about. I've looked at the related african species too, and there are none that come anywhere close to resembling this one, even with the abdomen yet uncleared.

So, I have to clear the abdomen with lactic acid, take a closer look and do some comparisons. Then if it really is a species new to science, I get to describe and name it, and then publish. 

Better yet, there are likely more unnamed species in the set, this is just the first one that was obvious.

[Elder Iptuous]

whatcha gonna name it?

[Vene]

whatcha gonna name it?

I suggest Ceraclea spaggus.  Actually, anything with "spag" in it.

[Kai]

whatcha gonna name it?

Probably after the type location (still haven't figured out if the name refers to a stream, river, village, region or what), or, as my roommate just suggested, maybe after the person who collected it. I forget what the location is exactly, something like Sarudo, saradu, or suradu.

So, maybe Ceraclea saraduensis, or C. hilli (after the collector), or perhaps just C. nigeriaca.

Its considered in bad taste to name randomly, after pop culture, or after yourself. Remember the Draconis hogwartzia? This is why we can't have nice things.

[Elder Iptuous]

Its considered in bad taste to name randomly, after pop culture, or after yourself. Remember the Draconis hogwartzia? This is why we can't have nice things.

What?!  considered by who? stick-in-the-mud taxonomists, that's who.... 
I'm reminded of the louse specie G.Larsoni named after the illustrator of the FarbSide comic.  that's a nice thing, right there. 

[Vene]

whatcha gonna name it?

Probably after the type location (still haven't figured out if the name refers to a stream, river, village, region or what), or, as my roommate just suggested, maybe after the person who collected it. I forget what the location is exactly, something like Sarudo, saradu, or suradu.

So, maybe Ceraclea saraduensis, or C. hilli (after the collector), or perhaps just C. nigeriaca.

Its considered in bad taste to name randomly, after pop culture, or after yourself. Remember the Draconis hogwartzia? This is why we can't have nice things.

Biochemists are just as bad.

[Iason Ouabache]

whatcha gonna name it?

Probably after the type location (still haven't figured out if the name refers to a stream, river, village, region or what), or, as my roommate just suggested, maybe after the person who collected it. I forget what the location is exactly, something like Sarudo, saradu, or suradu.

So, maybe Ceraclea saraduensis, or C. hilli (after the collector), or perhaps just C. nigeriaca.

Its considered in bad taste to name randomly, after pop culture, or after yourself. Remember the Draconis hogwartzia? This is why we can't have nice things.

Biochemists are just as bad.

And don't forget Mothers against decapentaplegic.

[Kai]

Like I said, THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS. 

[Vene]

Semi-random article about lunatic fringe.
Only the lunatic fringe have strong backs.

[Cain]

Congratulations on finding your (possibly) new species.

[Cramulus]

Longshot question:

Are you familliar with Elise Craddock? She's a horrible old Australian woman who taught my intro to bio class, and considers herself a Big Deal in entomological circles. Apparently discovered some species of hawaiian fly.

[Kai]

The more I think about it, the more I realize it has to be. The Afrotropics are one of those biotic regions that has been poorly explored. In the Neartic (North and most of central America), 95% of all Trichoptera species are suspected to have been described now. In the West Paleartic (Europe and africa from the Saharra north) that percent is even closer to one hundred. Yet it suspected by trichopterists we have only described 20% of all caddisfly species, the other 80% occuring in the Neotropics (Soth America), the Afrotropics, the East Palearctic (Russia, Japan, Mongolia and Norther China), Australiasian (Australia, New Zealand, Oceana) but mostly it is believed these species will be found in the Oriental, which includes India, China, Southeast asia, and Indonesia. New species are being found from all these regions all the time, so its not that unlikely I have a new species of Ceraclea, especially since the African Ceraclea have been poorly investigated in the past (i.e. there have only been 3 new descriptions in the afrotropics since my advisor published his world revision in the early 70s, and none since the late 80s).

Plus, just thinking about the structure of the terminalia and how none of it matches up to the previous drawings. I will find out for sure today.

[Cramulus]

looked it up and her name is spelled "Elysse M. Craddock"

again, long shot