Science Names A Fly After Beyonce

What's in a name?  A previously-unnamed horsefly now has a name - and it's shares it with Beyonce.

According to the Australian National Insect Collection researcher responsible for officially ‘describing’ the fly as Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae, CSIRO’s Bryan Lessard, the fly’s spectacular gold colour makes it the “all time diva of flies”.

Although the name is new, the fly isn't.

The rare Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae species of horse fly was collected in 1981, the year that Beyoncé was born, from north-east Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands together with two other previously unknown specimens.

“Most Australian Scaptia species have been described, however, these five ‘new’ species of a sub-group (Plinthina) have been housed in Australian collections since the group was last studied in the 1960s,” Mr Lessard said.

Beyoncé gets a bootylicious fly named after her | ScienceBlog.com.