UAE etymology (sic) in the news
My colleague Antonius van Harten recently made the news for his extraordinary efforts to study the insect fauna on the United Arab Emirates. Tony's been collecting there for several years now, compiling two volumes already of the Arthropod Fauna of the UAE, an edited series of articles about arthropods (mostly insects) found in - you guessed it - the UAE. The project has revealed at least 167 new insect species, which is just awesome.
He's been kind enough to send me several packages of vials filled with UAE Ceraphronoidea, and I've been dreadfully slow to respond with a manuscript (though I have sorted the specimens to morphospecies, identifying described species for this group of wasps is a painfully slow process). Something's in the works now, though, in collaboration with István Mikó, and we expect a manuscript to be submitted this summer - finally.
He's made it to various Web channels before (earlier article here), but what prompted me to write something is the fact that he now apparently
Awesome image of a Stygeromyia maculosa fly (Diptera: Muscidae) from the UAE, captured by our good friends at the National Museum Wales. Alas, this species was described by Austen in 1907 and is not one of the 167 new species.
He's been kind enough to send me several packages of vials filled with UAE Ceraphronoidea, and I've been dreadfully slow to respond with a manuscript (though I have sorted the specimens to morphospecies, identifying described species for this group of wasps is a painfully slow process). Something's in the works now, though, in collaboration with István Mikó, and we expect a manuscript to be submitted this summer - finally.
He's made it to various Web channels before (earlier article here), but what prompted me to write something is the fact that he now apparently
describes himself as a professional etymologist! A change in careers? Way to go Tony!
Awesome image of a Stygeromyia maculosa fly (Diptera: Muscidae) from the UAE, captured by our good friends at the National Museum Wales. Alas, this species was described by Austen in 1907 and is not one of the 167 new species.
