Quote:
Originally Posted by H Dogg
The correct spelling for the Bombardier Beetle is as paul say's Brachinus crepitans. Unless it has changed very recently, which i arnt aware of. Although it seem's to have a y not an i in Brachinus in some non UK text although its the same species. Quite strange.
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I believe you are right that this is now the accepted spelling. Brachynus is probably the obsolete version, as it is the "correct" one etymologically : the Y here stands for a greak Upsilon, which would naturally translate into Y (interestingly we call Y "greak I " in French - I grec). Probably in the same vein as deciding that all genus names ending with a are feminine - which is horrendous for a purist (which I am not, but...) and leads to confusion all over the place except perhaps in academic circles. On the web, you 'll find Eurydema ornatus, ornata (the correct one nowadays) and ornatum (used to be the correct one) Oh well...
Philippe