Myrmex is a weevil, not an ant.
Saduria entomon is an isopod, not an insect.
Nobody Flies? I think flies and other insects can fly
Pipi or Pippy, is an Australian name for what is known in the rest of the world as a clam. I think it might be of indigenous origin.
Speaking of flies, why are Ironic Flies so ironic?
Phasia hemiptera is a fly, not a bug.
Caryomyia (which means “hickory fly”) is a genus of flies. C. shmoo makes galls on hickory leaves that look like shmoos.
Water scorpions (Nepidae) are bugs, not scorpions.
Has Aha ha been mentioned yet?
Yes Truman,
The Australian Crabronid wasp Aha ha was first mentioned in post #20 in this thread. To jump to the post, click the arrow to the right:
You can search for a term in any thread by selecting the magnifying glass in the top right, and then selecting “in this topic”.
This species name has an interesting history:
Aha ha was named by entomologist Arnold Menke in 1977 as a joke. Menke described how, when he received a package from a colleague containing insect specimens, he exclaimed “Aha, a new genus”, with fellow entomologist Eric Grissell responding “ha” doubtfully. This incident took place in 1972. The name of the insect is commonly found in lists of bizarre scientific names. The name was also used as the licence plate of Menke’s car, “AHA HA”.
This encounter is explained in this article, as well as a few other interesting names: https://factanimal.com/fun-stuff/funniest-animal-names-in-the-world/
With 950 messages spread over 7 years the following may already have been mentioned, but it’s a collection of funny, long, short, weird, etc. organism names.
That’s a nice article! I love the colourful photos; they bring the list to life in a way that 950 (mostly) text messages struggle to do.
I wouldn’t be surprised if our thread inspired the article. We have an amazing community of nature experts participating on the iNat Forum!
The editor took a bit of “artistic liberty” with the stock photos:
- For Aha ha, which is a Crabronid, they used a Polistes wasp (a Vespid). But they’re still making wasps seem cool and interesting, which I appreciate.
- For Verae peculya, which is a Braconid, they actually used a scorpionfly (a Panorpid). Which is a cool animal in its own right!
Any media that gets people excited about taxonomy and biodiversity is a win in my book. It gave me an excuse to dive deeper into this thread. Thank you for sharing!
I noticed that too! Maybe they just don’t have any good pictures of the Aha ha?
No; they all came out looking funny.
Pretty well known to anyone who’s played Deltarune, though!
I found this Pale Pond Lily Leaf Beetle yesterday while kayaking (observation link). A common name with FIVE non-hyphenated words. I can’t imagine there are too many species that can match (or beat) that.
Martyn, I personally think it’s a good idea to invent common names in order to make nature more accessible to laypeople. But beetles are hyper-diverse, so it’s not easy to come up with millions of distinct names!
If we look at the Curator Guide for taxonomic authorities:
We don’t get a definitive answer! The linked forum post is https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/taxonomic-resources-for-insects-wiki/, which also doesn’t provide the answer!
To be fair, the “Leaf Beetle” part of the name gets across the idea that it is a Chrysomelid, which is a good entry point, in my opinion.