with a golden booty how could they resist?
Seems like 2011 is shaping up to be a very big year of pop star Beyonce. Not only did the R’n’B singer give birth to her first child she also had a new breed of horse fly named after her.
The Beyonce horse fly was discovered in in 1981 and has been sitting around unnoticed, or rather unstudied, until 24-year old Bryan Lessard came into the picture. A researcher at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, he said he wanted to pay tribute to the singer (who was born the same year the insect was found) and to the beauty of the fly. Thus, the name Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae.
Still unsure if the golden bummed horse fly bites as other female horse flies do, Lessard points out there is much research to be done in his field. And this is another reason for the flashy, famous name.
Lessard explains the flies are “vital pollinators of native plants, not just in Australia, but all over the world,” he continues, “It’s extremely important to name all the undescribed species so we can measure our human impact on the environment and hopefully protect it for future generations to enjoy.”
That said, the researcher still has his sense of humor as he referred to the fly as being very “bootylicious.” At least let’s hope that’s humor and he’s not taking his work that seriously. Source.
