It's the Aleiodes shakirae WASP?! You will not believe that these animals are NAMED after celebrities...

Celebrities are an inspiration for many reasons, for their music, movies and charity work. But did you know that some of the world's most famous people have also inspired scientists? That's right, these stars' names have been used to give monikers to animals! From crustaceans to ants these creatures have all got star names...

In early 2022, a prehistoric 328 million-year-old squid was found, becoming the oldest known member of cephalopod family. The creature, which would have lived way before dinosaurs, was discovered by a group of New York’s Natural History Museum scientists, along with Yale University experts. This certainly broke the news not only in terms of science, but also because it was named Syllipsimopodi bideni. If this sounds like the American President to you, you’re certainly not wrong! A museum statement informed that, in fact, the President served as inspiration due to his plans to fight climate change, “and his general sentiment that politicians should listen to scientists".

In 2020, Torben Riehl, a researcher at the Senckenberg Museum in Germany, along with Ghent University researcher Bart De Smet, found a new crustacean and decided to name it Macrostylis metallicola. The reason is simple: the music of the metal band accompanied Riehl in his first years of career! When news broke about this new species, the band stated in social media that the crustacean and Metallica had some things in common, as “the worm-like creature dwells in complete darkness".

Due to his massive contribution to conservation, the late great Crocodile Hunter has two different species named after him. A snail named Crikey steveirwini, and a turtle named Elseya irwini. Irwin himself found the latter while vacationing along with his father Bob while trying, of course, to find some crocodiles!

A little crustacean found in the Caribbean was named Gnathia marleyi in honor of the late reggae legend. Arkansas State University marine biologist Paul Sikkel, explained that he decided to name the crustacean after Bob, because he admires and respects the late singer’s music.

Expert in the study of insects, Terry Erwin, found a new beetle species and decided to name it Agra katewinsletae, honoring the actress and her ‘Titanic’ role. The entomologist once spoke about how this species is threatened by deforestation. He said: "Her character did not go down with the ship, but we will not be able to say the same for this elegant canopy species, if all the rainforest is converted to pastures."

A new species of ant which was found by Washington Smithsonian Institution’s Ant Lab scientists Ana Jesovnik and Ted R. Schultz, was named Sericomyrmex radioheadi. Revealing the inspiration for the musical name, Jesovnik said: “We wanted to honor their music. But more importantly, we wanted to acknowledge the conservation efforts of the band members, especially in raising climate-change awareness.”

A horse fly species found in Queensland, Australia, was named Scaptia beyonceae by scientist Bryan Lessard. Explaining why Queen Bey was an inspiration for the name, Bryan said: "It was the unique dense golden hairs on the fly's abdomen that led me to name this fly in honor of the performer".

A new spider species found in Madagascar was named Thunberga by scientist Peter Jager. He explained: "Named after Greta Thunberg, a young and courageous climate activist fighting against global warming, ignorant stakeholders and for a better future on our planet. In fact, global warming and other issues caused by humans affect all parts of the nature including Madagascar’s nature in general and its spider fauna in particular."

A new millipede species that was found in North America by Dr. Derek Hennen, was named Nannaria swiftae, after the ‘Shake It Off’ hitmaker. Hennen broke the news on his Twitter account, posting an image of the millipede and also explaining his reasons for naming it after Taylor. He wrote: “I named it after Taylor Swift. I'm a big fan of her music, so I wanted to show my appreciation by naming this new species from Tennessee after her.”

A new wasp species that was found in 2014 was named aleiodes shakirae, after the ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ singer. Eduardo Shimburi and Scott Shaw, the scientists who found the insect in Ecuador, explained they decided to name it after Shakira after observing a peculiar behavior. Turns out these wasps breed their eggs inside of a host animal, which most of the cases is a caterpillar. When the larvae start to hatch inside, it makes the caterpillar’s body twist and “dance”, in a way that clearly reminded them of the pop star!