For Millennials. By Millennials.
Guys, we finally have it. There is now officially a beetle that is named after The Beatles! A few scientists who were fans of the band decided to have some fun when they got the chance. They decided to name this newly found insect after the fab four.
A beetle is now named after the Beatles
As it turns out, Dutch scientists have a really good sense of humor. They found a previously unnamed and undiscovered beetle insect in Vondelpark. So, they decided to have some fun and name it after The Beatles. It is now called ‘Ptomaphagus thebeatles’. But, that raises the question: why did they name it after the fab four?
As it turns out, it wasn’t very hard at all for them to arrive at The Beatles. This species of the beetle was found near the famous Hilton Hotel. If you need help in recollecting your memories, it’s the same hotel where John Lennon and Yoko Ono caught the world’s eye with their ‘bed in for peace’.
Joris Koene, a biologist who works at Vrije Universiteit said:
‘Insects are often named after famous musicians. A treehopper has been named after Lady Gaga, a fly after Beyoncé and four types of damselfly have been named after all Queen band members. Strangely, a beetle has never been named after the Beatles. This has now been rectified in a new publication in the scientific journal, Contributions to Zoology.’
If you want to have a look at the insect with your own eyes, here’s a picture:
https://twitter.com/Naturalis_Sci/status/1268503517678964736?s=20
Moreover, Njunjić, who is an expert on cave beetles, said:
It’s really cute. It lives in leaf litter, feeds on fungi and is a brown reddish colour. We just found one so it could even be a bit rare in the Vondelpark. We just thought “thebeatles” was kind of a cool name.
This beetle was only discovered because of COVID-19
The only reason this beetle was discovered is because of the coronavirus pandemic. Usually, this organization holds expeditions in distant locations. However, due to the lockdown and pandemic, they had to work more locally. That is why they were wandering in the Netherlands and luckily stumbled upon this beetle. When Njunjić was asked which Beatles song he would dedicate to the newly-named beetle, he said, “Let it be”. We have to admit, that is a very fine choice. George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney will be proud of their choice of name and song.
