They Just Named a Horse Fly after Beyonce and Other Weird Ways Celebs Have Influenced the World of H

Posted by Carisa Kissane on Friday, May 17, 2024

It's been a big couple of weeks for Beyonce. There was the baby. There were the rumors. There was an investigation. And now? There's a horse fly.

The very rare, very lucky horse fly above has just been given the name Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae, after the singer. Why? Because the gold color on its little booty makes it the "all time diva of flies," according to Bryan Lessard of Australian National Insect Collection, who was officially responsible for describing the horse fly.

And lest you think that one might be offended by this honor, Lessard explains: "Although often considered a pest, many species of horse fly are extremely important pollinators of many plants. ... Horse flies act like hummingbirds during the day, drinking nectar from their favourite varieties of grevillea, tea trees and eucalypts."

Beyonce's not the only one who has a presence in the animal kingdom--in fact, there's actually a pretty huge list of creepy crawlers that bear stars' names:

  • Angelina Jolie: Aptostichus angelinajolieae, a trapdoor spider found in the dunes of Northern California.

    • Stephen Colbert: Aptostichus stephencolberti, a trapdoor spider closely related to Angelina's.

    • Liv Tyler: Agra liv, a carabid beetle named for Liv because the "existence of this species of elegant beetle is dependent upon the rainforest not undergoing an Armageddon."

    • Kate Winslet: Agra katewinsletae, another type of carabid beetle.

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