Synonyms.

The synonym field is great, but there are many cases where traditional families have been downgraded to subfamily [or lower]- is there any good way to search for these? For instance, I recently added Scolytinae [bark beetles] to the Curculionidae - this shows up at family rank in much of the older/popular literature, but this isn't a synonym. Can the search be made to look for just parts of taxa, like "Scolyti"? I did list "Includes Scolytidae and" in the synonym block of the Curclionidae, but the search doesn't find this.

Hate to suggest adding more features, but maybe a field for searchable keywords that don't show up anywhere else.

I have no formal biological education, so forgive my ignorance here. Are you saying rank changes aren't synonyms? Changing from Scolytidae to Scolytinae doesn't make Scolytidae a synonym? If so, maybe I should just relabel synonyms as "Synonyms and other taxonomic changes"? Can you suggest better or more precise wording? That's an easy change.

Synonym: A word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another word or other words in a language.

That standard dictionary definition is actually pretty good - synonyms can best be thought of as different names for the same concept or taxa. The older name would have 'priority' and replace the other regardless of rank used.

Some examples;

1. At one time it was customary to use the subfamily Valginae for a group of Scarabs - now usually considered a tribe [Valgini] of the Cetoniinae - this would not make Valginae, strictly speaking, a synonym of Cetoniinae (not the same concept), unless Valg- is eliminated altogether at any rank. In other words, you wouldn't treat Valginae as a synonym of Cetoniinae, unless you also considered Valgini a synonym of Cetoniini.

2. The Geotrupines are now considered a separate family [Geotrupidae], but were until recently considered a subfamily of the Scarabaeidae. If, in the future, it is brought back as a subfamily - that would not make the Scarabaeidae and Geotrupidae, strictly speaking synonyms, especially if the Geotrupines are simply considered part of the Scarabaeidae and the name Geotrupinae is still used.
When family groups are combined, the name used at the higher rank is based on priority - whichever was proposed first. That is why you would use Scarabaeidae with Geotrupinae and Scarabaeinae as subfamilies and not Geotrupidae with Geotrupinae and Scarabaeinae as subfamilies. This can be disconcerting when a well known, but younger Family [-idae] name, is changed due to the inclusion of another group of taxa that may have been part of an older family-group name, maybe one only used at the tribe rank somewhere else.

Now, per current edition of the ICZN, article 35.5. Precedence for names in use at higher rank. If after 1999 a name in use for a family-group taxon (e.g. for a subfamily) is found to be older than a name in prevailing usage for a taxon at higher rank in the same family-group taxon (e.g. for the family within which the older name is the name of a subfamily) the older name is not to displace the younger name.

In these first two cases, a family group name would not normally be cited as a synonym unless it is replaced at the lowest rank in a classification. On the other hand, you have cases like;

3. Ceratocanthidae [pill scarabs] is a true senior synonym of Acanthoceridae - absolutely the exact same taxa included [both are based on same (renamed) generic concept]. So, regardless of lowest rank used -idae, -inae, etc. - the name Acanthocer- would simply be replaced with Ceratocanth-.

While tough to wade through the ICZN Code is available on-line.

Hope this explanation makes sense. Your alternate wording seems fine to me.

Just not by default. If you search for "Scolyti*" then you get everything that starts with Scolyti. There is a link from the search page with more details about search functionality, but I should include that in the Help section.

The search already indexes synonyms. In fact, I don't think there is anything it doesn't already include. I tried searching for Scolytidae and it returned the Curculionidae page. Indexing doesn't happen instantly. It indexs new or updated pages every few minutes and does a complete reindex every few days. Perhaps that's why you didn't see it the first time.

I don't think I fully understand how the whole site works:-) Maybe you can give me a tutorial when we meet in Los Angeles?

Will do.