Flashy Latin names

Who named a horsefly after Beyonce? 12 creatures named after celebrities

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Between 15,000 and 18,000 new species of plants and animals are discovered every year, and, as it happens, they all need a name. Most of those names are just descriptive, but every now and then, an inspired scientist decides to honor a famous individual by naming the newly discovered species after him or her. The reference is usually hidden within a Latin name, but it is there, as these 12 examples show.

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King Charles led many environmental causes during his life. And, when scientists discovered a stream tree frog in Ecuador’s rainforests, they named it Hyloscirtus princecharlesi, honoring his rainforest conservation efforts.

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The "Hips Don’t Lie" singer was honored by scientists who discovered a wasp in the Ecuadorian mountains and named it Aleiodes shakirae. This parasitic wasp laid its eggs inside caterpillars that twisted in a way that reminded them of the famous dance moves of the singer.

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A horsefly with a distinctive shiny body with a patch of golden hairs was named after the female pop star. The fly, named Plinthina beyonceae, reminded the researchers of her song ‘Bootylicious’, and because they thought it was the "all-time diva of flies".

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Marking the 40th anniversary of the band’s founding, a researcher named not one but four species of damselflies after the members of Queen. The names? Heteragrion freddiemercuryi, H. brianmayi, H. rogertaylori, and H. johndeaconi.

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It seems as if naming creatures after musical artists is a thing among researchers. The Sericomyrmex radioheadi ant was named after the British musical group, in appreciation of the band’s environmental activism, especially in raising climate-change awareness.

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Not just a single species, but a whole taxonomic group was named after Pink Floyd. We are talking about the Pinkfloydia genus of orb-weaver spiders.

According to the scientists who came up with the name, they wanted to reflect the uniqueness of the spiders, which have very distinctive physical features.

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No one should be surprised, at this point, that a shark was named after the Jaws author. The ninja lanternshark, Etmopterus benchleyi, was named so after Peter Benchley, the famous author.

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The name Taylor Swift is guaranteed to make headlines every time it appears. Even if it is the name of a millipede.

In 2022, a new millipede species, Nannaria swiftae, was named after the singer-songwriter by Dr Derek Hennen, a self-confessed fan of her music.

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The last creature on this list to be named after a musical artist, the Baicalellia daftpunka, honors the French duo Daft Punk.

This flatworm is said to resemble the iconic look of the duo’s helmets, which they used to conceal their identities when playing live.

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It should come as no surprise that a famous environmental activist like Greta Thunberg, who has been active for a couple of years now, has had a few animal species named after her.

Among these, a whole genus of huntsman spiders, Thunberga, has been named after her.

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Some of the celebrities who have been bestowed with this honor are the very same individuals who discovered the species. Such is the case of Steve Irwin and the Elseya irwini turtle, which was found by the late zookeeper, conservationist, and TV personality.

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The last entry on our list is a curious case. The Idris elba parasitic wasp was not named after the actor, even though it shares the same denomination.

It is fair to say that the famous actor’s name does sound exotic, and it would not at all be hard to believe of a species named after him, especially after all the examples we have just read about.

Do you trust your mechanic?

Have you ever been told one of these 12 lies by a mechanic?

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In our modern world, where specialization is the norm and nobody is required to know about everything, we enlist the services of different people for all of the things that we don’t know how to do ourselves. Unless you are a mechanic or know quite a bit about the subject, fixing your vehicle is a task you delegate to more competent hands. As with everything in life, most of the mechanics out there are decent folks. But there’s always a rotten apple looking to scam innocent customers with fake repairs. Take a look at the following 12 possible examples. Have you witnessed any of these?

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Many mechanics say that a car needs to have its oil changed every 3,000 miles. While this is true for some vehicles, most modern ones can often go much longer — up to around 7,500 miles — without an oil change. What matters is what the manufacturer recommends and what the dipstick color indicates.

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While most modern cars certainly call for a four-wheel alignment, some mechanics will try to charge you for all four wheels even when they only do two of them. If, for example, the rear wheels haven’t been adjusted, this isn’t true.

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A fuel system service might be required sometimes. But it often happens that a mechanic will charge a customer somewhere between $249 to $449 for adding some fuel injector cleaner to the fuel tank, which can be accomplished by going to any store and buying a bottle for $10.

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Many mechanics will try to get their customers to buy new tires, even if the old ones are just fine. Tires below 5mm of tread don’t necessarily need to be replaced right away, since the tread is there to remove water. Hence, if the driver is careful enough and drives slower in the rain, he or she can get many more miles out of the tire.

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It goes without saying, that having reliable brakes is essential to ensuring a safe ride. But if a customer is being told that he or she needs them the moment they’re below 3mm, that purchase can be delayed for a little while longer, provided that the car is driven with care.

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A transmission fluid flush can be necessary at times, but it might not be as often as the mechanic claims. The customer should find out why the mechanic is suggesting it before actually doing it. A fluid and oil filter change might be enough.

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Since we are on the subject of flushing, if a mechanic tells you it’s time to flush your power steering fluid, consider getting a second opinion. Some mechanics say that the smell or color of the power steering fluid is how they’re able to tell it needs to be replaced, but commonly, it only needs to be flushed once or twice during the lifetime of the car.

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Yes, there are some advantages to using synthetic oil, but not every car calls for it. This can be checked in the owner’s manual. However, some mechanics might try to sell a customer on synthetic oil, simply because it is typically more expensive.

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If a vehicle is relatively new or it has recently had its coolant flushed, chances are there is no need to have it replaced again. Coolant doesn’t wear like oil does and only needs to be replaced maybe once or twice during the car’s lifetime.

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Some mechanics will prefer to get their money faster, from the customer, instead of getting it from the insurer, and to achieve this, they will say that a certain repair is not covered by the warranty when it is. The standard warranty covers both labor and parts, so make sure to check this with the insurer.

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It has been reported that some unscrupulous mechanics keep dirty air filters on hand to pass off to customers to get them to pay for a new one.

To prevent falling for this type of scam, customers should know the filter on their car and find out how often it needs to be replaced.

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This statement is sometimes uttered by mechanics looking to scare a customer, to make him or her pay for unneeded repairs. The truth is, these kinds of remarks should be taken with a grain of salt and a second opinion is advisable.