- March 16, 2026 - Insectarium : Behind the scenes at the Insectarium, Education
At this point in time, the estimate is that about one million species of insect are known and described planetwide 1. A scientific name is given to each one of them, as is the case for all living species.
Scientific names, which generally have Latin or Greek roots, are:
- Informative. They reveal information on species taxonomy or biology.
- Universal. Recognized worldwide by the scientific community, they reduce the risk of confusion, notably among speakers of different languages.
- Precise. A species possesses only one valid, current scientific name,* whereas it can sometimes have several common (or vernacular) names.
- Established according to strict rules. For example, the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature regulates the assignment of scientific names to animals.
Nevertheless, this jargon may seem obscure to the public, especially because it can’t be practically used in everyday life – except by specialists!
In other words, we need common names. And that’s where the Insectarium’s Nomenclature Committee comes in. Our mandate: find a common name for all species represented at the Insectarium, whether in the museum space or in the framework of the museum’s educational and scientific activities.
The role of the Insectarium’s Nomenclature Committee
Created in 2021, in the wake of the opening of the new museum, the committee had worked on roughly 500 species as of summer 2025. That said, there’s still a lot of work to do, considering that the Insectarium exhibits more than 1,000 species, that there is regular renewal in the museum, and that projects of every sort spring up.
Three frequent scenarios in the assigning of common names
-
The species already possesses common names in English and French.
These are already widely used by the public and approved by other nomenclature committees specializing in entomology (for example, the committee of the Entomological Society of Canada). In that case all we need to do is approve its use at the Insectarium.
-
The species has a common name in English, but not in French.
This is often the case for species whose geographic distribution does not include French-speaking countries. The committee will then draw inspiration from the common name in English, in the language of the countries of origin or from the scientific name to find a nickname for it in the language of Molière.
-
The species has no common name in use.
In that case, rigor is required in creating a name that’s both representative and snappy!
Nomenclature 101: how to create a good insect name
Obviously, no insect gets named spontaneously however we please. Clearly defined guidelines have to be followed. For instance, the common name must be short and easy to memorize, be precise and applicable to a single species, be consistent with the names of other species in the same family, and so on. We also take inspiration from key elements of the insect’s biology, such as a distinctive characteristic of its anatomy, its habitat or its geographic distribution.
All these guidelines notwithstanding, we can still have a little fun. That’s how the Flatida rosea (flower-spike bug in English) became “fulgore-bonbon” (sparkle candy) in French, and Cethosia biblis (a butterfly called red lacewing in English), became “dentellière rouge” (red lacemaker)!
Getting out the word about insects, one species at a time
Eventually these names will be disseminated more broadly to entomology societies and various organizations. When all’s said and done, calling an insect by its common name amounts to getting to know it a little better. And that’s a starting point for discovering a species in all its uniqueness and complexity.
* Sometimes species are known by different scientific names, which we call “synonyms.” These will primarily result from revisions or reclassifications. In theory, just one scientific name is considered valid at any given time.
1 Stork, N. E. 2018. “How Many Species of Insects and Other Terrestrial Arthropods Are There on Earth?” Annual Review of Entomology: 63:31–45
