Agathidium rumsfeldi

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

Agathidium rumsfeldi is a sponge ball beetle that prefers to live in the middle of rotting tree wood and feeds on slime mold on the tree bark .

The beetle is native to the states of Oaxaca and Hidalgo in Mexico .

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 Cornell University , in 2005 after the then US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld . 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.

Further species of the genus Agathidium are Agathidium bushi , Agathidium cheneyi 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 .