Nutty Nomenclature
All species of organism are given their own specific name by the taxonomist who first describes them. Every now and again the taxonomists allow themselves to have a little bit of fun. This is our guide to some more mischievously named species.
Name: Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides
Don’t get it? At 42 characters it's the longest accepted scientific name.
What is it? A fly. Nothing more, nothing less.
Where was it found? India.
When was it first named? 1923
Who deserves the credit? British musician and part-time entomologist Enrico Brunetti.
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Is there a picture? Possibly. This could be Brunetti's tongue-twister (as we've renamed it). On the other hand, it could be another small fly (click on image to enlarge). Whilst this beast has the longest accepted name, B. Dybowski, in 1927, proposed the following 50-letter name for a Lake Baikal amphipod: Gammaracanthuskytodermogammarus loricatobaicalensis. The official taxonomy bods told him not to be so silly. Fifty letters indeed.Check out some other weird species names here.
Null's other regular features:
Monday: Phunny Phobias
Wednesday: Doctor Doctor
Thursday: Peculiar Periodicals
Friday: End of week timewasters
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