A faux review of one of Amazon´s most obscure products, first posted on Dec 31, 2009. The book (or whatever it is) was titled "World species of biting midges (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History)"
Why
wasn't Red Dwarf included in this catalogue of biting MIDGETS?
:D
Of all weird publications distributed by Amazon.com, this is easily the weirdest one. And nastiest, too. Art Borkent has compiled a list of all known species of...biting midges. The list is 236 pages long and contains no species presentations whatsoever. It's just a long, never-ending list of Latin names, the only other information being the name of the unfortunate scientist who described the species in question, and where he found it (or was bitten by it).
That's all.
Thank God this work is available free on-line!
Going through the list, I was immediately struck by the fact that midges are quite literally EVERYWHERE. Micronesia, Chad, Sudan and Turkmenistan are some of the God-forsaken haunts where midges can be found. Which makes you wonder whether some scientist travelled all the way to the Sudan just to find midges? Or where they free-loading on a more financially viable operation, say oil drilling or shooting documentaries for the BBC?
The life of a dipterologist sure is an interesting one...
The names of the various midges are also pretty interesting. How about Nilobezzia atroxifemorata, Neosphaeromias afrotropicalis, Wannohelea huoqiuensis and Bezzia albuquerquei, plus a few others the Amazon filter won't let met spell out. Suggesting vernacular names for these bugs might be great fun! How about Jadis Queen of Narnia, State Congressman, First Blood or Poor Man's Mosquito?
The catalogue is topped with a reference section. Many references are to obscure magazines from behind the Iron Curtain, dealing with newly discovered midges from Siberia (Alexander Solzhenitsyn had other things to do).
Since there are no species presentations (wouldn't you like to know more about Jadis?), I couldn't find the only useful midge in the catalogue, the midge that supposedly pollinates cacao, making sure we get our chocolate!
Dipterology truly is a world apart...
:D
Of all weird publications distributed by Amazon.com, this is easily the weirdest one. And nastiest, too. Art Borkent has compiled a list of all known species of...biting midges. The list is 236 pages long and contains no species presentations whatsoever. It's just a long, never-ending list of Latin names, the only other information being the name of the unfortunate scientist who described the species in question, and where he found it (or was bitten by it).
That's all.
Thank God this work is available free on-line!
Going through the list, I was immediately struck by the fact that midges are quite literally EVERYWHERE. Micronesia, Chad, Sudan and Turkmenistan are some of the God-forsaken haunts where midges can be found. Which makes you wonder whether some scientist travelled all the way to the Sudan just to find midges? Or where they free-loading on a more financially viable operation, say oil drilling or shooting documentaries for the BBC?
The life of a dipterologist sure is an interesting one...
The names of the various midges are also pretty interesting. How about Nilobezzia atroxifemorata, Neosphaeromias afrotropicalis, Wannohelea huoqiuensis and Bezzia albuquerquei, plus a few others the Amazon filter won't let met spell out. Suggesting vernacular names for these bugs might be great fun! How about Jadis Queen of Narnia, State Congressman, First Blood or Poor Man's Mosquito?
The catalogue is topped with a reference section. Many references are to obscure magazines from behind the Iron Curtain, dealing with newly discovered midges from Siberia (Alexander Solzhenitsyn had other things to do).
Since there are no species presentations (wouldn't you like to know more about Jadis?), I couldn't find the only useful midge in the catalogue, the midge that supposedly pollinates cacao, making sure we get our chocolate!
Dipterology truly is a world apart...
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