People have asked me a number of times how taxonomists (scientists that describe new species) actually choose the names of their organism of interest. I will post a how-to describe Species in a subsequent article so for now I will say this: there are rules to follow for naming a species similar to grammar and copyright laws, but the name itself is pretty much up to those describing the species. For example taxonomists can name it after a person (as I did), a geographic location, or a unique physical feature of the new species.

But some taxonomists like to have a little fun: sometimes at the expense of others. It was said that Carolus Linnaeus (pictured here), the first person to designate scientific names for species, named weedy plants after people he did not like. Not all are so vindictive and some just like to amuse themselves. Here is a partial list of some of my favorite invertebrate species names compiled from  www.CuriousTaxonomy.net. These are all actual scientific names. If they don't make sense at first, read them again. The non-italicized names that appear after the scientific names are the authors that described the species and the year in which the species was formally named. For the complete list, take at look at Mark Isaak's Curious Taxonomy site - it's great. Enjoy.

Aa Baker, 1940 (mollusk)

Aaata Semenov, 1906 (buprestid), de Laubenfels, 1930 (sponge)

Abra cadabra (Eames & Wilkins) 1957 (clam) Now, alas, in the genus Theora.

Agra phobia Erwin (carabid)

Anticlimax Pilsbry & McGinty, 1946 (fossil gastropod)

Alaskozetes antarcticus  (Falkland Islands mite)

Armadillidiidae (pill bugs) - Nine consecutive Roman numeral letters

Apopyllus now Platnick & Shadab, 1984 (spider)

Atrochus Wierzejski, 1893 (rotifer)

Ba humbugi Solem, 1983 (endodontoid snail) from Mba island, Fiji.

Bombylius aureocookae Evenhuis, 1984 (bee fly)

Carmenelectra shechisme Evenhuis, 2002 (fossil mythicmyiid) from Dominican amber.

Castnia inca dincadu Miller, 1972 (castniid moth) [Bull. Allyn Mus. 6: 1-13]

Cephise nuspesez Burns (skipper butterfly) pronounced "new species".

Chrysops balzaphire Philip, 1955 (deer fly)

Chrysops nigribimbo Whitney, 1879 (horse fly)

Cryomyia Hull, 1973 (bombyliid fly)

Cypraea ziczac Linnaeus 1758 (zigzag cowrie) For the zigzag markings on the shell.

Cindarella eucalla Chen, Ramsköld, Edgecombe and Zhou, 1997 (trilobite)

Colon rectum  Hatch, 1933 (leiodid beetle) Also Colon grossum Hatch, 1957, Colon monstrosum

Cyclocephala nodanotherwon Ratcliffe (scarab) Ratcliffe described several others in this large genus.

Disaster Agassiz, 1836 (echinoid)

Dissup irae (Kovalev, 1989) (a hard-to-see fossil eremochaetid fly)

Dorcus titanus Boisduval, 1835 (stag beetle)

Doryctes fartus Provancher, 1880 (braconid)

Dyaria Neumoegen, 1893 (liparid moth) "Honoring" Mr. Dyar. (Probably no insult was intended.)

Enema pan (Fabricius), 1775 (rhinoceros beetle)

Eremobates inyoanus Muma and Brookhart, 1988 (solpugid) Inyo is the county where it was first found.

Eubetia bigaulae Brown (tortricid moth) pronounced "youbetcha bygolly".

Eurygenius (pedilid beetle)

Fartulum Carpenter, 1857 (tiny caecid gastropod) It is rather like a turd in shape and color, too.

Fukuia Abbott & Hunter, 1949 (snail)

Gelae baen, Gelae belae, Gelae donut, Gelae fish, and Gelae rol Miller and Wheeler, 2004 (fungus beetles)

Gressittia titsadaysi Philip, 1980 (horse fly)

Itolia (fly)

Ittibittium Houbrick, 1993 (mollusc) These are smaller than molluscs of the genus Bittium.

Jorunna spazzola Marcus, 1955  (nudibranch)

Jujubinus (mollusc) - Stace, that one's for you!

Heerz lukenatcha Marsh, 1993 (braconid)

Heerz tooya Marsh, 1993 (braconid)

Hoplochalina agogo de Laubenfels (sponge?) de Laubenfels admitted it to be an arbitrary combination of letters.

Hunkydora Fleming, 1948 (clam) (subgenus of Myadora)

Kamera lens Woodcock, 1917 (protist)

La cucaracha Blesynski, 1966 (pyralid)

Labia minor (L.) (earwig)

Meomyia Evenhuis, 1983 (fly)

Notoreas Meyrick, 1886 (lep)

Ochisme Kirkaldy, 1904 (hemiptera)

Dolichisme Kirkaldy, 1904 (hemiptera)

Florichisme Kirkaldy, 1904 (hemiptera)

Marichisme Kirkaldy, 1904 (hemiptera)

Nanichisme Kirkaldy, 1904 (hemiptera)

Peggichisme Kirkaldy, 1904 (hemiptera)

Polychisme Kirkaldy, 1904 (hemiptera) Kirkaldy was criticized for frivolity by the London Zoological Society in 1912.

Inyoaster Phleger, 1936 (starfish)

Loa loa (a nematode) - shortest tautonym. Jamie Atherton loves this one.

Losdolobus Platnick and Brescovit, 1994  (Brazilian orsolobid spider) Platnick and Brescovit wanted to pay tribute to a couple Argentine guys who helped them and asked them to suggest a name, and they proposed "losdolobus." Letters or syllables are often reversed in colloquial Argentine, so the name refers to "los boludos," a colloquial term which means "the good-for-nothings."

Natica josephine  (marine snail) Innocent-sounding in most of the world, but in Italy, "natica" means "buttock," and "Josephine" is a derogatory name for the Pope.

Ohmyia omya Thompson, 1999 (syrphid fly)

Omyomymar Schauff, 1983 (mymarid parasitic wasp)

Oops Agassiz, 1846 (arachnid) and Oops Germar, 1848 (beetle) ("Oops" wasn't used as an interjection until the 1930's.)

Orgia nova Fitch, 1863 (moth)

Peniculus asinus Kabata & Wilkes, 1977 (copepod) "The specific name refers to the remarkably asinine appearance of the specimen. . . .", but the ass they refer to is Equus asinus. [Can. J. Zool. 55:1988-1991.]

Pison eu Menke, 1988 (sphecid)

Pieza deresistans Evenhuis, 2002 (mythicomyiid fly)

Pieza kake Evenhuis, 2002 (mythicomyiid fly)

Pieza pi Evenhuis, 2002 (mythicomyiid fly)

Pieza rhea Evenhuis, 2002 (mythicomyiid fly)

Pison eyvae Menke, 1988 (sphecid)

Prorhipidoglossomorpha (branch of molluscs) - 22 letters, no 'e'.

Ptomaspis, Dikenaspis, Ariaspis (Devonian armored jawless fish) Remove the "-aspis" to
see the pun.

Reissa roni Evenhuis & Baéz, 2001 (mythicomyiid fly)

Rhyacophila tralala Schmid (caddisfly)

Serendipidae Evenhuis, 1994 (fossil fly family, for the genus Serendipa Evenhuis 1994) Dan Brooks also described Serendipidae in 1994 (for the parasite Serendip), but Evenhuis's name has priority. The two have since coauthored a paper changing Brooks' family group name to Serendipeidae, with the same pronunciation.

Sepia  (cuttlefish) Sepia ink once came from squid and cuttlefish ink.

Shillingsworthia shillingsworthi Girault 1920  (mymarid wasp). Lambasting J. F. Illingsworth, Girault described this wasp as a creature with no head, thorax, abdomen, legs, antennae, or wings (i.e., nonexistent), "blank, vacant, inaneness perfect. . . . Visible only from certain points of view. Shadowless. An airy species whose flight cannot be followed except by the winged mind. . . . This so thin genus is consecrated to Doctor Johann Francis Illingworth, in these days remarkable for his selfless devotion to Entomology, not only sacrificing all of the comforts of life, but as well as his health and reputation to the uncompromising search for truth."

Strategus longichomperus Ratcliffe (Honduran scarab) with long mandibles

Tabanus nippontucki Philip, 1942 (horse fly) Described during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Tabanus rhizonshine Philip, 1954 (horse fly)

Texananus  (leafhopper)

Townesilitus Haeselbarth & Loan, 1983 (braconid) Named after Henry Townes.

Trombicula doremi Brennan & Beck, 1955 (chigger)

Trombicula fasola Brennan & Beck, 1955 (chigger)

Turbo (snail)

Verae peculya Marsh, 1993 (braconid)

Ytu brutus Spangler, 1980 (water beetle) "Ytu" comes from the local (in Brazil) word for waterfall.

Tyrannasorus rex Ratcliffe and Ocampo, 2001  (Miocene hybosorid scarab from Dominican amber) The dinosaur is spelled Tyrannosaurus. [Coleop. Bull. 55:351]

Tyrannomyrmex rex Fernández, 2003  (Malaysian ant) [Zootaxa 341:1]

Zyzzyva Casey, 1922 (tropical American weevil)