Top 10 animal species with celebrity names

Didier Bourdon, Thierry Lhermitte… if the actors do not hesitate to borrow the name of animals to shine in society, it also happens that rare species find themselves, without asking anyone, with the name of a celebrity on the back. Blases that are not always easy to wear…

1. The Agra Schwarzeneggeri Beetle

Discovered in 2002 in the Costa Rican forest, this small insect was so named because of the over-developed size of its small front legs, which reminded the naturalists who discovered it, of the biceps of the steroid-ridden Austrian-American actor. The next time you come across a beetle lifting iron or staring at ice with a smug look on its face, look no further, you’re bound to be looking at an Agra Schwarzeneggeri!

2. The mild-mannered Neopalpa donaldtrumpi

When in 2017, the Canadian biologist Vazrick Nazari discovers this new hope of “butterfly” in the depths of Venezuela, he hastens to give him the name of the future American President. Far from being a big fan of the politician, Nazari then explains his choice by the resemblance between the disgusting yellow scales of the animal’s head and Donald’s mop of hair. This wink allowed him above all to create a buzz and to make this endangered species known to the general public. For the anecdote, in France, an AFP translation error transformed this “butterfly” Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, into a “big moth”!

3. The worm Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi

Before starring in the masterpiece Dumb and Dumber, actor Jeff Daniels played the worst nightmare of arachnophobes around the world in the aptly named horror film “Arachnophobia”. A role that earned him a few years later the honor of seeing his name passed on to a rare species of hermaphrodite worm (class), capable of killing those filthy tarantulas!

4. The pterosaur Coloborhynchus spielbergi

Nothing astonishing than to pass on to a dinosaur, the name of the director of Jurassic Park. The pterosaur Coloborhynchus spielbergi was thus discovered in 2003 in Brazil and has just been added to the vast bestiary of the family of large flying lizards, a sort of prehistoric dragon without the torch option as postilions.

5. Phialella zappai jellyfish

Brilliant guitarist, Frank Zappa had the right to all the tributes during his lifetime, including the most bizarre. His name was thus given by two Italian researchers to a bacterium responsible for acne… Later, it was with a stringy jellyfish that his surname was associated by a biologist who wanted a chance to meet his idol. It was done a few months later, at the end of which Frank Zappa would have declared: “There is nothing in the world that makes me happier than knowing that a jellyfish bears my name. »

6. The Agathidium Vaderi beetle

With its wide, black and shiny back, this little beetle looks like, according to the scientists who discovered it in North Carolina, Darth Vader’s helmet… or Darth Vader for fans of the original version. The proof above all that you can be a world-renowned researcher and like to mess around.

7. The beetle Anophthalmus hitleri

While he was living quietly deep in the caves of Slovenia, it took a German collector to stumble upon him in 1933 and give him the name of the infamous Austro-German psychopath, for his image to be forever associated with nostalgia. of the Nazi regime. The führer had indeed at the time welcomed this tribute in an official letter. Even today, some mad people continue to venerate this beetle, the rare specimens of which are still alive, trading at around 2000 euros!

8. The Agra Liv Beetle

Liv as Liv Tyler, daughter of the singer of Aerosmith and above all an actress notably seen in the philosophical film Armageddon, in which her character cried out to the world “The existence and survival of this elegant species of beetle depends on the Amazon rainforest which must not suffer a cataclysm”. A response so poignant (no) that a scientist decided to pay homage to the lady by giving her first name to a beetle (logical) discovered in the Amazon.

9. Calponia Harrisonfordi Spider

We stay in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones universe with this spider discovered by the scientist Norman I. Platnick in 1993 in California, which was named in tribute to Harrison Ford very invested with the American Museum of Natural History as well as that from London. The name of the actor would also have been passed on to an ant from Central America: the Pheidole harrisonfordi.

10. La mouche Scaptia beyonceae

This Australian fly would actually be a gadfly, a kind of creepy insect but which still has two big advantages: firstly, it helps pollinate flowers, and secondly, it was given the name of the American star to the crazy swaying. Once you know that, you can confidently say that Beyonce Knowles is a gadfly!