The Quick 10: 10 Animals Named After Celebrities

By Stacy Conradt |

It's old news by now that Stephen Colbert now has a beetle named after him the Agaporomorphus colberti. Shouldn't it have been the Agaporomorphus mccartnei, the Agaporomorphus starkei, the Agaporomorphus harrisoni or the Agaporomorphus lennoni? Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Anyway, Colbert is far from the only dude to have an animal or insect named after him. Here are 10 who beat him to the punch.

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2. Cryptocercus garciai is a species of wood roach, which is fitting because it's named after Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia. I just love a scientist with a sense of humor.

3. Phialella zappai is named after Frank Zappa simply because the guy who named that particular type of jellyfish wanted to meet Frank Zappa. Really. When Frank found out, he said, "There is nothing I would like better than having a jellyfish with my name," and invited the scientist to spend a couple of days at his house. So, if you've been trying to devise a way to meet a celebrity, there you go. 

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5. Preseucoila imallshookupis is a gall wasp. Guess who it's named after? There's really no resemblance to The King; reportedly the scientist who named it was just an avid fan.

6. The Strigiphilus garylarsoni is a type of lice only found on owls, so not everyone would be particularly honored by the name—but Gary Larson sure was. The scientist who named the louse wrote to Larson and said he deserved to have a scavenging insect named after him because of his comedic contributions to science, biology and etymology. Larson responded by writing this in The Prehistory of the Far Side: "I considered this an extreme honor. Besides, I knew no one was going to write and ask to name a new species of swan after me. You have to grab these opportunities when they come along."

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8. Rostropria garbo was named after the reclusive movie star by the same name "“ Greta Garbo. Because of her famous statement, "I want to be alone," scientists thought it would be fitting to name a solitary female wasp after her. Except Garbo once said she never uttered the famous line, at least not in a personal context (she did say it in character in the movie Grand Hotel). She contended that the quote was actually, "I want to be let alone," and that there was an immense difference in the meaning of the two phrases.

9. Cirolana mercuryi, a species of crustacean, was named after Freddie Mercury. Why? Not because the because the little guy has a three-octave range, unfortunately, but because the isopod makes its home in the coral reefs off of Bawe Island, Zanzibar. Since Mercury is one of Zanzibar's most famous residents, the scientists thought it would be nice to honor him.

10. Struszia mccartneyi means that Paul already has a species named after him. This one is a trilobite discovered in 1993. And lest you think that other aging rockers have been left out of the joke, don't worry—Mick Jagger, Johnny Rotten, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Ringo Starr and all of the Ramones also have trilobites named after them, and so does John Lennon.