Article

2005-04-15 -Short Attention Span Theater-

Meet the Beetles: entymologists name new bugs after Bush, Cheney, and Rummy

Associated Press. EFL.

ITHACA, N.Y. — President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have shared a common political vision for most of their careers. Now they'll share something else -- a slime-mold beetle named in his honor.

Two former Cornell University entomologists, who recently had the job of naming 65 newly discovered species of slime-mold beetles, named three species after the American leaders, dubbing them: Agathidium bushi Miller and Wheeler, Agathidium cheneyi Miller and Wheeler and Agathidium rumsfeldi Miller and Wheeler.

According to rules established by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the first word of a new species is its genus; the second word must end in "i" if it's named after a person; and the final part of the name includes the person or persons who first described the species.

Naming the beetles after Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld had nothing to do with physical features, but was intended to pay homage to them, said Quentin Wheeler, a former professor of entomology and plant biology at Cornell for 24 years until October. "We admire these leaders as fellow citizens who have the courage of their convictions and are willing to do the very difficult and unpopular work of living up to principles of freedom and democracy rather than accepting the expedient or popular," said Wheeler, now the head of entomology at the Natural History Museum in London. . . .

. . . For anyone looking to hunt down one of the new slime-mold beetles, Wheeler said that Agathidium bushi has so far been found in southern Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia. All red states. Mere coincidence? Rumsfeldi and cheneyi are from south of the border in Mexico.

Posted by Mike 2005-04-15 8:57:37 AM|| || Front Page|| [11143 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Agathidium rumsfeldi - also known as the Eagle Claw beetle...

Posted by mojo 2005-04-15 11:20:47 AM|| 2005-04-15 11:20:47 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Slime-mold beetles...are we sure this was meant to be an honor?

Posted by Jonathan 2005-04-15 11:53:21 AM|| [http://www.emessell.typepad.com/muddling] 2005-04-15 11:53:21 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Well, I have heard Saddahm Hussein referred to as a slime, so.... Make sense to me...

Posted by BigEd 2005-04-15 12:00:08 PM|| 2005-04-15 12:00:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 Its always been a dream of mine to have a beer yeast named after me.

Posted by BrerRabbit 2005-04-15 12:18:25 PM|| 2005-04-15 12:18:25 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 We've got to name a bug
One we just found yesterday
It's you we're thinking of
It's a tribute in a way
We named it for you
And you know that can't be bad
We named it for you
And you know you should be glad
It's a new beetle, yeah, yeah, yeah
A new beetle, yeah, yeah, yeah
And with a bug like that, you know you should be glad . . .

Posted by Mike 2005-04-15 12:27:10 PM|| 2005-04-15 12:27:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Doctor Quentin Wheeler picks out a name for a beetle that someone just found
It crawls on the ground
"What should I call it?" The idea dawned like a button was pushed:
"I know, 'George Bush!'"

All the slime mold beetles
Where do they all come from?
All the slime mold beetles
What do we call them all?

Posted by Mike 2005-04-15 12:45:15 PM|| 2005-04-15 12:45:15 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 I'm pleasantly surprised. From the headlines I just assumed it was a dig at Bush and Co. (bugs, slime molds, Cornell, professors, ...). Maybe there's hope for academia yet.

Posted by Xbalanke 2005-04-15 1:05:13 PM|| 2005-04-15 1:05:13 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 LOL Xbalanke, don't tell me you fell for it :-)

Posted by True German Ally 2005-04-15 1:09:04 PM|| 2005-04-15 1:09:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 Dunno TGA, these beetles are not slimy nor moldy, they feed on slime mold, devour it and dispose of it.

Wheeler and colleague Kelly B. Miller, now a postdoctoral fellow at Brigham Young University... Not a bastion of moonbatism, as far as I know.

Posted by Sobiesky 2005-04-15 2:01:10 PM|| 2005-04-15 2:01:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 Unless if was tongue in cheek: Wheeler said it was to pay tribute to Bush, Cheney and Rummy for all they have done under tough circumstances. The statement was real stand up and hard to believe an idiotarian or untreatable LLL could have made it without starting to giggle half way through.

Posted by Jack is Back! 2005-04-15 3:31:13 PM|| 2005-04-15 3:31:13 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 Respected colleauge, do you see this bug?
It was just discovered right here on the rug
It's a brand new species of the slime mold beetle
And it needs a name, so we're gonna call it Agathidium rumsfeld,
We'll call it "Rumsfeld!'"

Posted by Mike 2005-04-15 3:59:51 PM|| 2005-04-15 3:59:51 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 Wait: entymologists? What do they do, study insect languages?

By the way, Gary Larson got a louse named after him, and was so proud that he used it to decorate the endpapers for The Pre-History of the Far Side.

Posted by Angie Schultz 2005-04-15 4:02:20 PM|| [http://darkblogules.blogspot.com] 2005-04-15 4:02:20 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 Tee hee! Those scientists they funny boys

This is like Tom Lehrer's "Folk Song Army":

We are the Folk Song Army.
Everyone of us cares.
We all hate poverty, war, and injustice,
Unlike the rest of you squares.

...If you feel dissatisfaction,
Strum your frustrations away.
Some people may prefer action,
But give me a folk song any old day.

...Remember the war against Franco?
That's the kind where each of us belongs.
Though he may have won all the battles,
We had all the good songs.

So join in the Folk Song Army,
Guitars are the weapons we bring
To the fight against poverty, war, and injustice.
Ready! Aim! Sing!

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-15 4:58:19 PM|| 2005-04-15 4:58:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#14 *happy sigh* "Folk Song Army" in front of my eyes, trailing daughter singing "New Math" by my side. What could be better?

Posted by trailing wife 2005-04-15 6:28:29 PM|| 2005-04-15 6:28:29 PM|| Front Page Top

17:20 Cesare
16:43 Crusader
15:53 Grom the Affective
15:52 Grom the Affective
15:47 trailing wife
15:46 trailing wife
15:34 A joe
15:14 Crusader
15:12 Crusader
14:45 swksvolFF
14:41 ed in texas
14:40 Grom the Affective
14:21 Silentbrick
13:59 Q Pac
13:32 Grom the Affective
13:27 Abu Uluque
13:07 Abu Uluque
13:03 Abu Uluque
13:01 Frank G
13:00 Frank G
12:57 Abu Uluque
12:35 ed in texas
12:35 DarthVader
12:32 ed in texas