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Change of Scolopendra logipes to Scolopendra alternans in the classification

Dear all,
I am a myriapodologist, specialized on New World Scolopendromorpha. I have observed that BugGuide is using an unaccepted classification for Scolopendra alternans: the "revival" of S. longipes by Mercurio (2016) (http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4111.1.1). The revival has not been accepted by the community and databases, as it is based on a wrong interpretation of the available data. By usage and consensus, S. longipes remains a synonym of S. alternans. See:
1. Myriatrix: http://myriatrix.myspecies.info/myriatrix/scolopendra-longipes
2. ChiloBase 2.0: https://chilobase.biologia.unipd.it/searches/result_species/1371
3. Chagas-Jr. & Galvis Jiménez (2018: 161) wrote referring to Mercurio (2016) S. alternans splitting: "However, his statistical analysis is incomplete and insufficient" (https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4425.1.9).
4. Three recent papers did not cite the unsupported revival and kept S. alternans: 1) Schileyko (2018), Scolopendromorpha St. Barthélemy (https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4438.1.2). 2) Schileyko et al. (2018), Scolopendromorpha Martinique (https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4486.4.9). 3) Martínez-Muñoz & Perez-Gelabert (2018), Chilopoda of Hispaniola (https://doi.org/10.33800/nc.v0i12.86).

Two of us are database maintainers: Daniel Perez-Gelabert (ITIS) and myself (Myriatrix). As BugGuide photographic records are being ingested by GBIF (under S. alternans), I thought that you would like to know the information above and maybe run an update of the BugGuide taxonomic backbone before the next GBIF ingestion.
Kind regards,
Carlos

P.S.: This post is a version of an email initially sent to the database maintainer, who suggested posting it in this forum.
Contributed by Carlos A. Martínez-Muñoz on 13 May, 2020 - 3:47pm

If we are understanding you correctly
you are saying that we should change the name of Scolopendra logipes to Scolopendra alternans. Just a simple change in the specific epithet? That will be easy if that is all you would like.
… john and jane balaban, 13 May, 2020 - 10:22pm

 
All changes welcome
Hi John and Jane,
Individual users could change the specific epithet in their pictures. That is welcome, of course. However, I was pointing at the taxonomic backbone of the site, which supposedly is not available for users to change. I guess that swapping Scolopendra longipes by Scolopendra alternans in the backbone can only be done by the platform maintainer. The S. longipes that I see in BugGuide were all correctly identified by Rowland Shelley as S. alternans. I don't know if the current S. longipes name is 1) earlier to his identification and never changed or 2) S. alternans changed after Rowland's identification to S. longipes because of Mercurio (2016).
I signed up for BugGuide just because maintainer John VanDyk wrote that taxonomic changes go through this list and because my late colleague Rowland Shelley contributed before. It is very unlikely that I can engage further in this thread because I have no time. My original post contains all the necessary information to implement a taxon swap in the platform's taxonomic backbone if desired.
I don't know if the community is supposed to deliberate, agree and then tell John, or which mechanism is used. I just posted the necessary information.
Kind regards,
Carlos
… Carlos A. Martínez-Muñoz, 15 May, 2020 - 9:30am

 
Any editor can edit the taxonomy
We made this change. It is a very simple edit. Everything on BugGuide is editable. You simply need to post here whatever changes in the taxonomic structure that you would like to see. It can be a simple as change x to y with a short reason and it will be done. It is not some sweeping change to some taxonomic backbone. It is just a simple edit. Thank you for your willingness to advise on this issue.
… john and jane balaban, 15 May, 2020 - 9:51am

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