Monday, January 16, 2012

'Beyonce' the Horse Fly?

Beyonce just had a rare horse fly named after her. As weird and ridiculous as that sounds, it's true ... an Australian scientist has given the name "Beyonce" to a rare horse fly because the fly's unique, golden bottom reminded them of the singer's.
A rep from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization says, "It was the unique dense golden hairs on the fly's abdomen that led me to name this fly in honor of the performer Beyonce," and says it is considered to be the "all-time diva of flies." The Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae fly inhabits Australia's far north Queensland and was first collected by researchers in 1981, which also happens to be the year Beyonce was born. The scientist also said that by naming the fly in honor of a popular celebrity, it gives him "the chance to demonstrate the fun side of taxonomy — the naming of species."
Beyonce joins a small list of other celebrities who have had small creatures named after them. Sting has a frog — Hyla stingi — and Frank Zappa was the inspiration behind naming a rare spider species, Pachygnatha zappa.

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