Agathidium bushi

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Agathidium bushi
Systematics
Order : Beetle (Coleoptera)
Subordination : Polyphaga
Family : Leiodidae
Subfamily : Sponge Ball Beetle (Leiodinae)
Genre : Agathidium
Type : Agathidium bushi
Scientific name
Agathidium bushi
Wheeler & Miller , 2005

Agathidium bushi is a species of the sponge ball beetle (Leiodinae) that prefers to live in rotting tree wood and feeds on slime molds on tree bark .

features

With a body length of around 3 millimeters, Agathidium bushi belongs to the medium-sized species of the genus Agathidium . It is yellow-red on the top and yellow on the underside. The legs and antennae are yellow to yellow-brown.

distribution

The beetle has so far only been found in the northeastern United States . It is native to the south of the state of Ohio , North Carolina and Virginia .

Naming

In the English language, the genus is also known as slime mold beetles because of its diet , which translates as “ slime mold beetles ”.

The beetle was named by the American entomologists Quentin D. Wheeler and Kelly B. Miller , two former scientists at the renowned Cornell University , in 2005 after the then US President George W. Bush . The namesake emphasized that the naming is not an insult , but rather an award. Wheeler verbatim in a press release from the university: “We admire these leaders as fellow citizens who have the courage to convince and are ready to follow the principles of freedom and democracy , although this is very often difficult and unpopular instead of accepting the obvious and popular ".

In the eyes of the news magazine Der Spiegel , however, the name represents a revenge by researchers for allegedly "open and hidden nonsense of the Bush administration", which has made as many enemies in science as no US government before.

Other species of the genus Agathidium are Agathidium cheneyi , Agathidium rumsfeldi and Agathidium vaderi .

literature

  • Quentin D. Wheeler, Kelly B. Miller: Slime-mold beetles of the genus Agathidium Panzer in North and Central America, Part I. Coleoptera: Leiodidae . In: Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . No. 290 , March 24, 2005, ISSN  0003-0090 (English, amnh.org [PDF]).
  • Quentin D. Wheeler, Kelly B. Miller: Slime-mold beetles of the genus Agathidium Panzer in North and Central America, Part II. Coleoptera: Leiodidae . In: Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . No. 291 , March 24, 2005, ISSN  0003-0090 (English, amnh.org [PDF]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Press release from Cornell University (English)
  2. ↑ Markus Becker: A questionable honor: a beetle named Bush. In: Spiegel Online. April 15, 2005, accessed August 3, 2011 .