Bugging out on Game of Thrones: The tale of dragons and beetles
What do Game of Thrones, dragons and beetles have in common? An entomology professor from the Midwest.
Everyone knows that Game of Thrones is a worldwide phenomenon with humans. But it has also struck chords in the insect world, too.
Meet Brett Radcliffe, a professor of entomology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Professor Radcliffe loves beetles, and he also loves Game of Thrones. He’s such a massive fan of the HBO series that he decided to honor it.
Game of Thrones dragons become beetle names
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You see, Radcliffe recently discovered three new species of beetles. So, he decided to name these new species after Daenerys’ dragons (or wyverns?): drogoni after Dogon, rhaegali after Rhaegal, and viserioni after the now frozen Viserion.
Radcliffe sees this recent naming as a way to bust the perception that science guys take things too seriously. Although, Thronies have been known to take their fandom very seriously.
Radcliffe has been discovering beetles for nearly 50 years. Sure, his Game of Thrones fandom had a lot to do with naming his beetles after dragons, but he also hopes it will spark some interest in biodiversity. He said,
"“When you create names like these, you do it to gain a little bit of notoriety and bring public attention to it. We’re still discovering life on Earth."
He also mentioned that one out of every four living things on Earth is a beetle. That means that we haven’t discovered them all and we are not even close.
That’s a lot of beetles. I’m still waiting for the discovery of dragons though. Maybe Radcliffe will help with that too. And perhaps he can name them after famous beetles!
One can dream.
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Source: Watchers on the Wall