That would be the KdF-Wagen.
There are a lot of arguments about offensive names versus the principle of priority in taxonomy. But there’s also a committee that exists to override the rules in special cases. This one seems pretty special – you’d think a species named after someone so horrible it is itself suffering from it shouldn’t be too hard to make an exception for.
12 Likes
I wasn’t familiar, so I googled. Looks like (via the debatably useful Wikipedia) he supported JP Rushton, who was a psychologist and eugenecist. So kind of not in line with Nazi fighters so much as in line with Nazi philosophy.
2 Likes
Fixed that for you.
1 Like
I feel like the only thing more attractive to these morons than a Hitler beetle would be “the Hitler beetle that was renamed because woke”.
3 Likes
Renaming it? I dunno, the beetle seems like the perfect neo-Nazi mascot - unable to see the world, unnaturally pale, fragile and heading for extinction.
4 Likes
You forgot the beetle’s diet.
1 Like
If it ate bat shit, that would have been perfect, but it seems like it eats smaller invertebrates…
In a cave? Their main diet has to be guano. Sounds like some scientists were trying to spare Nazi fee-fees.
1 Like
The argument that we can’t change the names 'cuz confusion is pretty lazy. Linnaen names for species change all of the time for taxonomic reasons - 2 species originally thought different turn out to be the same, or a single species is split into two or more, with at least one new species name being required. This happens on a daily basis. Does it make it more difficult to ensure scientists are talking about the same thing? Yup. Has it brought the entire study of taxonomy, let alone the biological sciences in general to its knees? Far from it.
We live in an age where these records are databased and digitized. While it would take time to change the actual voucher material underpinning all of this taxonomy, digital records can easily be revised.
Also, much taxonomy is molecular now and scientists are moving away from necessarily needing a Linnean species name for anything. The study of biodiversity, in particular, relies more and more on molecular classifications than Linnean nomenclature.
3 Likes
That’s very far from the impression I get from the research I have seen. I mean, yes, molecular clades can be used in place of higher ranks, but proper description and recognition of species still underpins everything save some vague environmental DNA descriptions. That taxonomists have proved they can handle these kind of changes is the key point – I think saying it doesn’t really matter anyway is dismissive to an important field.
4 Likes
Yeah, maybe. It’s hard to say. Fucking weirdos.
If the Navajo can give up the swastika as a sacred symbol, you can rename a beetle from the 30s.
3 Likes
Neo-Nazis are notably free from the constraints of consistency or reason, so you’re right, it’s hard to say.
We kept our pre-war swastikas around here. And the Jains kept theirs on their flag. I didn’t realize the Navajo had stopped using it.
3 Likes
Yeah, they weren’t the only tribe to use the “whirling log”, but the Navajo are probably the most well known due to their use of it in blankets and pottery. It was largely abandoned in the late 30s and during WWII, with the Navajo making an official proclamation.
I remember there was an older Native Indian lady who ran the local antique store who had on a big silver ring with one on it. I was around 15 (early 90s) and was like, “What’s up with that?” and she explained it was an Indian symbol, but it was much later that I learned more about it.
And like you say, the Jains use it, variations are used by Hindus and Buddhist, thus it is still around. The local Asian market just got a shipment of jade and ceramics from China, and I spotted some small ones as background design elements on a vase. 
So many cultures still use it, even if it is taboo in the US.
4 Likes
Eh no.
I count on the Black Widow Spiders in my central Texas region to limit the number of other bugs I deal with on a near-daily basis. And please note: Black Widows are far less territorial than the more numerous, aggressive bugs that make life hard around here.
https://texasinsects.tamu.edu/southern-black-widow-spider/
Habitat, Food Source(s), Damage: Widow spiders feed on a wide variety of arthropods. Red imported fire ants have been reported as their main food in cotton fields of East Texas. Boll weevils, grasshoppers, June beetles, and scorpions are also known prey. They are found in houses, outhouses, cotton fields, trash and dumps. Webs are commonly found in spaces under stones or logs, or holes in dirt embankments, and in barns, rural privies, and other outbuildings. The web is an irregular mesh usually built in a dark spot sheltered from the weather. The webs may also have a retreat, typically a 1/16 to 5/16 inch (2 to 8 cm) circular or semicircular silken tent. The spider spends most of the time in the retreat, venturing out onto the web for web maintenance or when attracted by prey vibrations. Webs are usually placed low to the ground.
Pest Status: Most notorious of all spiders in the United States; venom is highly virulent, but the spider is quite timid. Even when disturbed in its web it attempts to escape rather than to attack. Widow spiders are known from every state (except Maine where it undoubtedly also occurs) and several Canadian provinces. It is uncommon in the north but quite abundant in the south and west.
Sorry, but singling out any dang part of the Circle of Life is human foolishness pure and simple.
Every Black Widow I have ever encountered has tried very hard to get away from me, and my camera, and my flashlight. They are the least of our problems.
4 Likes
Since Halloween is right around the corner, I’ll tell you that I’ve found Black Widow Spiders hang out in pumpkin patches. Back in the day I helped a local farmer pick them for Fall harvest and wouldn’t you know it a Widow under almost every third pumpkin. Think about that when taking kids to the patches this Fall y’all. Could be a teaching moment. Bring a camera and keep the emergency number handy!
1 Like
Here in Texas, the general rule is “never put your fingers or hand where you can’t see 100% of the place you’ll be touching.”
Or just wear gloves already.
That includes the handles of nursery pots, work gloves left out on a stone wall, a hose bib under a bush, any pile of leaves, etc. I am told Australians say the same thing.
Unless you’re super-committed to the spirit of inquiry and just want to know what a scorpion sting, a tarantula bite, and spider bite, etc. feels like.
4 Likes
And fire ants! Don’t for get those SOBs!
Nah, I’m good 
2 Likes
I guess @mallyboon were referring to this:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2302424120
I am reminded of Dobzhansky (1937). If I remember correctly, he quipped in that publication that a species would be what an eminent taxonomists would say it is.
I can’t vote on that, bit PERSONALLY, I would definitely vote not to change the name unless there is a taxonomic change. Brown blind Hitler beetle (crawling through batshit) fits my idea of a reminder to that particular arsehole. I would also want it to be protected, but for different reasons. But I am not a taxonomist, and not even remotely qualified NOR able to rename a beetle.
Also, I mean, in many cases, you need to have a closer look at their genitalia to distinguish them! Their are so small, and I bet this one has extra tiny and extra crooked parts. Where’s the fun in studying that?
Well, after years spent studying and working in biology, I do see a problem. Txonomists tend to be sticklers for rules. The Code is The Law. You do not change it lightly. And this extends to all names. So, the problem would be to convince everyone who has a vote on that matter that it would be a good idea to make an exception of establishing rules.
My experience says: not gonna happen anytime even remotely soonish. Best chance is to wait for a new kind of taxonomy. See above.
