Distribution of Celebia iligana

[Main] [Weevils of PH] [Genus Celebia]

 Celebia iligana Schultze, 1922

    = Rhinoscapha iligana, Schultze, 1922

Distribution

Figure 1. Color plate (artistic rendition) of female Celebia iligana (left), and map of the Philippine archipelago showing the province where the specimen was said to be collected (right) based on one article published in 1922 [1].

Mindanao

Region X: Northern Mindanao

• Province of Lanao del Norte, City of Iligan

Figure 2. Summary of data on C. iligana in video presentation format.

Comments on Locality Data

This species is named after Iligan where the specimen was collected. According to the paper published in 1922, Celebia iligana was collected in "Mindanao, Prov. Lanao, Iligan" (page 44, reference 1). During that time, Iligan was one of the three municipalities of the province of Lanao (page 368, reference 2). Currently, Iligan is a city in the Province of Lanao del Norte.

Figure 3. Screenshot of page 368 of the Census of the Philippine Islands done in 1918, published in 1920, showing Iligan (in the red box) as a municipality of the Province of Lanao (see reference 2).

In any scientific publication, data should always be verifiable. Locality data on Philippine wildlife collections can be easily confirmed because the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) keeps files of wildlife permits issued to researchers as mandated by Republic Act 9147 known as the "Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act". However, this is only applicable to those collections done beginning in the year 2001 up to the present.

Since the data on C. iligana was published in 1922, there is no wildlife permit for this collection. The paper [1], however, mentioned the name of the collector: Dionisio Vidal. Based on historical accounts, there was a "Dionesio Vidal" residing in Iligan in the early 1900s. The spelling may not be accurate, but it is most likely the same person. According to the documents, a "Dionesio Vidal" was appointed as the "presidente" for the then Municipality of Iligan in 1910 [3].

Supreme Court documents have also mentioned a (Señor) "Dionisio Vidal". In December 10, 1914, there was a case filed by a certain (Doña) "Demetria Cacho" against the Government of the United States [4]. In the document, Señor Dionisio Vidal was the husband and representative of Doña Demetria Cacho.

Looking at the year of the appointment as "presidente" of Iligan [3] and the year when the case was filed [4], they seem to indicate that this is the same Dionisio Vidal named as the collector in the paper [1]. All these information prove that the collector Dionisio Vidal is legitimately from Iligan, which further proves that the locality data for C. iligana is accurate.

The case filed by Doña Demetria Cacho was about a dispute on a land located in what is now known as Barangay Suarez, Iligan City. The land, as described in the case document [4], was "a jungle and forest with some trees of considerable size" and that "the brush was so tall and thick ... it was necessary to open roads or paths for the horses to pass". Land disputes require land surveys, and the C. iligana specimen may have been collected in the area during one such survey. Although the Cacho-Vidal family may have owned other lands in Iligan where C. iligana may have been observed, the historical account and the legal document filed in the Supreme Court nonetheless present evidence that the locality data published in the 1922 paper [1] is correct.

The paper [1] illustrates the importance of providing accurate data. In the absence wildlife permits, the name of this collector has become an avenue to ascertain the accuracy of the distribution data. It is amazing that a paper published almost 100 years ago is able to provide verifiable information, unlike some of those recently published (such as M. pulangi, M. tagabawa, M. latifasciatus, and many others) where there is heavy reliance on "trusted insect collectors" who may not be very trustworthy at all. A number of publications from 2010 up to the present declaring new species of organisms are unable to provide the names of the collectors, probably because some of those collectors may have skipped the legal papers from the DENR required by RA 9147.

With technologies such as the Internet and smartphones making documentation and communications faster in the last decade, now it should not be as hard as it was A HUNDRED YEARS AGO to name those local "trusted insect collectors" and acquire accurate locality data.

A summary of the process and the requirements to acquire wildlife permits for research from the DENR can be found here.

References:

[1] Schultze, Von W. 1922. Nuenter Beitrag zur Coleopteren-Fauna der Philippinen. Deutsche Entomologische Zetschrift. Vol.1; 36-45.

[2] Census Office of the Philippine Islands. 1920. "Census of the Philippine Islands taken under the direction of the Philippine Legislature in the year 1918". Retrieved  from: http://rsso08.psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/1918%20CPH%20vol1.pdf

[3] Acut, Patrocenia T. "Iligan During the American Period". Retrieved from: https://www.iligan.gov.ph/about-iligan/history/during-the-american-period/

[4] G.R. No. L-9408 December 10, 1914. "Demetria Cacho vs. The Government of the United States". Retrieved from: https://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1914/dec1914/gr_l-9408_1914.html

[Main] [Weevils of PH] [Genus Celebia]