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Thanks everyone for your illuminating replies! RW Brown sounds like the bible I'm looking for. In botany I think new species still have to be described in Latin (may be out of date here, as in much else :|), and Stearn's book is designed to help with this as well as in constructing satisfactory names. It goes into detail about such things as the exact meaning of colour words as used by different authors. I don't think publication in Latin is required for new taxa in entomology - am I right?

We seem to have two theories on Calliphora depending on which 'phor' root is intended. I'm inclining towards the 'beautiful thief' idea in Marek's Polish source.

Imagine the scene in the R-D household circa 1829:

Mme R-D: Jean Baptiste, one of your horrible flies is eating my filet mignon!

R-D: Mais cherie, it's a beautiful fly!

Mme: If you say so, my dear. But it's still a thief!

R-D: Hmm. Now what shall I call that new genus?

I think the next plan should be to engage a Spiritualist medium and get the answer 'from the horse's mouth'. Anyone have the required expertise?

Stephen.