| Orectochilus orbisonorum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Gyrinidae |
| Genus: | Orectochilus |
| Species: | O. orbisonorum |
| Binomial name | |
| Orectochilus orbisonorum Miller, Mazzoldi & Wheeler, 2008 | |
Orectochilus orbisonorum is a species of whirligig beetle named in honor of Roy and Barbara Orbison. It's black on top and translucent white on the bottom. Its length is about 5 millimeters. It lives in India. [1] [2] [3]
The whirligig beetles are water beetles, comprising the family Gyrinidae that usually swim on the surface of the water if undisturbed, though they swim underwater when threatened. They get their common name from their habit of swimming rapidly in circles when alarmed, and are also notable for their divided eyes which are believed to enable them to see both above and below water. The family includes some 700 extant species worldwide, in 15 genera, plus a few fossil species. Most species are very similar in general appearance, though they vary in size from perhaps 3 mm to 18 mm in length. They tend to be flattened and rounded in cross section, in plain view as seen from above, and in longitudinal section. In fact their shape is a good first approximation to an ellipsoid, with legs and other appendages fitting closely into a streamlined surface. Whirligig beetles belong to the beetle suborder Adephaga, which also includes ground beetles and diving beetles.
A water beetle is a generalized name for any beetle that is adapted to living in water at any point in its life cycle. Most water beetles can only live in fresh water, with a few marine species that live in the intertidal zone or littoral zone. There are approximately 2000 species of true water beetles native to lands throughout the world.
Bill Gates' flower fly is a flower fly endemic to Costa Rica named after Bill Gates. Another fly found in similar habitats was named after Gates' associate Paul Allen, called Paul Allen's flower fly ; according to Chris Thompson, the describer of these species, both names were in "recognition of [their] great contributions to the science of Dipterology".
A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one part that spins or whirls. It can also be a pinwheel, spinning top, buzzer, comic weathervane, gee-haw, spinner, whirlygig, whirlijig, whirlyjig, whirlybird, or simply a whirly. They are most commonly powered by the wind but can be hand-, friction- or motor-powered. They can be used as kinetic garden ornaments, and can be designed to transmit sound and vibration into the ground to repel burrowing rodents.
Pachygnatha zappa is a spider named after musician Frank Zappa because of its unique markings which resemble his famous moustache.
Anophthalmus hitleri is a species of blind cave beetle found only in about fifteen humid caves in Slovenia. The blind cave beetle shares its genus with 41 other species and 95 different subspecies. Members of its subfamily (Trechinae) are, like most Carabidae, predatory, so the adults and larvae of A. hitleri are presumed to be predators on smaller cave inhabitants.
Gyrinal is an organic chemical compound - an unsaturated ketoaldehyde - with the formula C14H18O3, obtained from the whirligig beetle (the water boatman, Gyrinus natator). It is a powerful antiseptic and fish and mammal toxin, and thus used as a defensive compound. Typically the beetles contain approx. 80 microgram of the compound. The LD50 of the compound is approx. 45 mg/kg in mice.
Agra katewinsletae is a species of carabid beetle named after English actress Kate Winslet.
Agra liv is a species of carabid beetle found in Costa Rica and Panama. It is named after the actress Liv Tyler, starlet of the movie Armageddon, because the "existence of this species of elegant beetle is dependent upon the rainforest not undergoing an armageddon."
Agra schwarzeneggeri is a species of carabid beetle. It is named after the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The holotype was collected in Costa Rica and first described to science in 2002.
Scaptia beyonceae is a species of horse fly found in the Atherton Tablelands in north-east Queensland, Australia. Discovered in 1981 but not scientifically described until 2011, the fly is named after American recording artist and actress Beyoncé.
Loureedia is a genus of velvet spiders that was first described by J. A. Miller in 2012. As of July 2020, it contained only four species: L. annulipes, L. colleni, L. lucasi and L. phoenixi. This genus of velvet spiders that live underground are named after Lou Reed, guitarist and singer for the Velvet Underground. In 2020, researchers discovered the fourth species, L. phoenixi, in Iran.
Rhyzodiastes xii, known alternatively as the Daddy Xi beetle, is a species of ground beetle that attracted media attention in 2016, when an entomologist named it after the paramount leader of China, Xi Jinping, who is the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China.
Desmopachria barackobamai is a species of diving beetles, in the genus Desmopachria.
Gyrininae is a subfamily of ground and water beetles in the family Gyrinidae. There are at least 60 described species in Gyrininae.
Agra catbellae is a species of carabid beetle named after the actress Catherine Bell. The holotype was collected in Costa Rica and first described to science in 2002.
Grouvellinus leonardodicaprioi is a species of riffle beetle in the superfamily Byrrhoidea. The beetle was discovered by citizen scientists working with a group of scientists from Taxon Expeditions. G. leonardodicaprioi belongs to the family Elmidae, and it is endemic to Malaysia.
Obamus coronatus is a torus-shaped Ediacaran fossil from the Rawnsley Quartzite of South Australia named in honor of former American President Barack Obama by the lab of Mary L. Droser.
Nelloptodes gretae is a species of beetle in the family Ptiliidae. It was described in October 2019 and named after the environmental activist Greta Thunberg. Its long antennae bear a passing resemblance to her braided pigtails.
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