What are you going to call it???

   This week's post is going to be a short one, but a good one because we are going to talk about wacky species names. This topic has come up recently in the news because of a fly species being described as Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae which was named after the famous singer Beyoncé Knowles.

It got the name based on the golden rump (technically the end of the abdomen) that reminded the author, Bryan Lessard, of the singer's famous behind. The insect belongs to the family Tabanidae, which includes Horseflies and Deerflies (you can see the needle-like mouthparts sticking out).
     Is this the only species of insect that is named after a famous person? In fact, no! Another insect to make the news recently (but to a much lesser extent) is the beetle species Hydroscapha redfordi, named after the actor Robert Redford. This little beetle was found in Idaho, and named after Redford because "the entomologists also wanted to honor Redford for his efforts on behalf of the environment." according to the article by Helenair.com.

The tiny beetles were found eating green algae through sheets of water flowing over the rocks. The water where most of the beetles were found was 122 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the article. Very few animals can survive in such high-temperature waters!
   Most entomologists usually name species based on Latin or Greek-words for different aspects of the insects (use of the Latin and Greek is due to tradition). Most names are comprised of descriptions of what color it is (castaneous for brown, fasciatus for having a stripe, etc.), size (grandis-big, dimutatus-small), or other characters (punctate- with holes).  This is helpful for scientists because when someone says a name like Aitkenia grandis, you know that the name goes with a big insect.
   However, since most entomologists do not have a shortage of new species to describe, coming up with unique names can actually be difficult. Especially since to name a species, you have to make sure the name isn't already being used by something else. So, creativity can abound to make sure the name is unique, and it allows us some fun in describing new species. Its unlikely, though, that beyonceae is going to be used frequently!
     For more information about describing new species, check out this podcast and article by Krulwich Wonders of NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94886658
    Also, here is a story of Stephen Colbert demanding a spider to be named after him. Here is a video of his request:

Lastly, here is a case of my own fun with naming: Ausejanus tiramisu Menard and Schuh

Ausejanus tiramisu Menard and Schuh, named after the famous Italian cake due to the patterning of the wings looking like the layers of lady-fingers in the cake

 The Italian cake

Next week: Guest post from the SNOMNH Integrative Pest Manager!