UCR Insect FAQ page -- info and links for some common insect questions
World Bee Genera
Colorado State Entomology Page -- One of the BEST links for Entomology sites!
Entomology Index of Internet Resources -- ditto, plus it's searchable!
Entomological Society of America Homepage
Smithsonian Entomology Home Page
"The Natural History Museum" (alias the British Museum)
Book of Insect World Records
Common insect pests, etc. ("Featured Creatures")
AntBase
International Bee Research Association
El Programa Cooperativo Sobre la Apifauna Mexicana (PCAM) Database of Mexican Bees -- in FoxPro

The Tree of Life Home Page
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)
Plant taxonomy database, USDA-ARS Germplasm Information Network
National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
World Conservation Monitoring Centre
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI)
International Center For Tropical Ecology at UMSL
Missouri Botanical Garden TROPICOS Search Page
Association For Tropical Biology
The Natural Heritage Network Central Server
The National Wildlife Refuge Association
Endangered Species Lists
Species Lists for US National Parks
National Wildflower Research Center
The International Arid Lands Consortium
Sierra Club
National Wildlife Federation
National Audubon Society
The Cephalopod Page

Nomenclator Zoologicus - probably THE best online resource for looking up genus names
The Scout Report (a GREAT resource for finding useful science web sites!)
Journal Preview Service (very nice for keeping informed)
National Science Foundation
"Nature" Magazine Online
"Science" Magazine Online
"New Scientist" Online
WWW Journal of Biology
National Climatic Data Center
USGS Mapping Information: Geographic Names Information System (GNIS; US gazetteer)
Defense Mapping Agency GEOnet Names Server (an international gazetteer)
MapQuest On-line Atlas -- like Rand McNally & AAA rolled into one
The NIST Chemistry WebBook -- data on just about any organic compound
Darwin's "The Origin of Species" Online
-- A FAQ site related to rebutting Creationism

The Snopes Urban Legends Site -- an indispensable resource for spotting hoaxes
TRACEROUTE -- to see who gives a spammer their net access (the "upstream provider")
WHOIS -- to see who they are and where they live

Internet Address Finder -- turns up e-mail addresses the other engines don't
Shareware Finder -- another handy resource

Discovery Channel Online
NPR Online
The Onion (an irreverent pseudo-tabloid)
Annals of Improbable Research
News of the Weird
The Straight Dope
House of Cards
Comic Strips Online

Curious Scientific Names

by Douglas Yanega (an electronic work-in-progress) VERSION 12-20-2005

This is sort of a supplement to Arnold Menke's classic article "Funny or curious zoological names" (BOGUS, Volume -2, 1993 April Fool's Issue; 24-27 [yes, that's volume *negative* 2]), expanded to include some fungi and plants. Many of the fly and plant names below are things I dug out of the literature myself, but many of the others are things I've picked up over the Internet, or had passed along to me by various people. I gratefully welcome anyone to contribute additional names, or author names and years for the various taxa, but I make no promises as to remembering who all gave me what, or giving credit where credit is due, unless you donate a huge heap of stuff (I already blew it long ago when I started this list, and starting now would be a disservice to the dozen or so contributors whom I've already forgotten - the only ones I recall are my brother Michael, who supplied many of the fish names, and also a number from Mark Isaak, whose name took me weeks to recall, and some moth names from James Adams). Mark has set up his own web page since I created mine, and it has expanded more rapidly than mine, so there is now considerable overlap between our lists, but his (Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature) is still worth a visit. A substantial addition comes courtesy of Gary McDonald, who selflessly supplied a lengthy list of mostly molluscs, for which I am genuinely grateful. For those amused by the phony scientific names used for the old Warner Brothers "Roadrunner and Coyote" cartoons, here's a link to a complete list of those names, too. There is also a very similar website dealing with "Silly Molecule Names," and a more general look at names, naming practices, and humorous aspects thereof at A Barrel Full of Names.

Virtually none of the following appear on Menke's list:

Adonis Linnaeus, 1753 (bird's-eye; Ranunculaceae), also Adonis Gronow, 1854 (fish)
Alfaro (knife fish)
Amanda (snail)
Andromeda Linnaeus, 1753 (wild rosemary), also Andromeda Gistel, 1834 (buprestid beetle; synonymized)
Angela (mantis)
Anubis Thomson, 1864 (longhorn beetle)
Aphrodite (Sea Mouse, a polychaete)
Aquarius (water strider)
Archimedes Lesueur, 1842 (bryozoan with a corkskrew-shaped support)
Astarte (clam)
Baalzebub (spider)
Balboa Distant, 1893 (seed bug)
Barbara Heinrich, 1923 (tortricid moth)
Batman Whitley, 1956 (fish)
Brenda Oman, 1941 (leafhopper)
Caligula (silkmoth)
Candace StŒl (stink bug)
Camilla Haliday, 1836 (fly)
Celina (diving beetle)
Ceres (snail)
Chronos Robson, 1914 (snail)
Cinderella Steyskal, 1949 (heleomyzid fly)
Clara Gill, 1862 (fish)
Clarissa Kirby, 1894 (wasp)
Claudius Des Gozis, 1882 (beetle; synonymized)
Cletus StŒl (leaf-footed bug)
Confucius Distant, 1907 (bug)
Croesus Leach, 1817 (sawfly)
Cynthia D. Don, 1829 (goat's-beard)
Cyrano Needham & Gyger, 1939 (damselfly)
Damocles (fossil shark; males had an elaborate projection from the back that ended poised over the head)
Daphne Linnaeus, 1753 (laurel), also a mollusc
Delilah Dillon & Dillon, 1945 (longhorn beetle)
Diana Risso, 1826 (fish), also Diana Laporte & Gory, 1837 (buprestid beetle; synonymized)
Doris (nudibranch)
Dracula Luer, 1978 (orchid; the flower supposedly resembles a bat)
Drusilla Leach, 1819 (rove beetle)
Electra Lamouroux, 1816 (bryozoan)
Erica Linnaeus, 1753 (heather)
Eros Newman, 1838 (lycid beetle)
Esmeralda Thomson (longhorned beetle; now a subgenus)
Esperanza Barber, 1906 (stink bug)
Evita Capps, 1943 (geometrid moth)
Fiona (mollusc)
Francesca (planthopper)
Freya Thery, 1943 (buprestid beetle)
Gilda Giglio-Tos (mantis; synonymized)
Godiva MacNae, 1954 (nudibranch)
Goya Ragonot, 1888 (pyralid moth)
Greta (butterfly), also Greta Hemming (snail) - one of these is probably not valid
Griselda Heinrich, 1923 (tortricid moth)
Hades Westwood, 1851 (metalmark butterfly)
Hermes Montfort, 1810 (snail; now a subgenus)
Hermione (stratiomyid fly)
Hilda Kirkaldy (planthopper)
Iago Compagno & Springer, 1971 (shark)
Icarus Forbes, 1844 (snail; synonymized)
Inga Busck, 1908 (oecophorid moth)
Iris (mantis)
Julia (mollusc)
Kali Lloyd, 1909 (deepsea swallower fish)
Lara (riffle beetle)
Larisa Miller, 1979 (tortricid moth)
Lavinia (carp)
Leia (fungus gnat)
Livia Latreille, 1805 (psyllid bug)
Liza Jordan & Swain, 1884 (mullet)
Lucia Swainson, 1833 (butterfly)
Lucifer Doderlein, 1882 (fish)
Marietta Motschulsky (chalcidoid wasp)
Marisa (snail)
Mathilda (mollusc)
Mars Jordan & Seale, 1906 (fish)
Melanie (mollusc)
Melba Casey (rove beetle)
Melissa Linnaeus, 1753 (lemon balm)
Mephisto Tyler, 1966 (spikefish)
Norma Heinrich, 1923 (tortricid moth; synonymized)
Nyx Heppner, 1982 (pyralid moth)
Ophelia (annelid)
Ophiuchus Distant, 1918 (leafhopper)
Orion Guerin-Meneville, 1844 (longhorn beetle)
Orsonwelles Hormiga 2002 (spider)
Osiris Smith, 1854(bee)
Pandora Druguiere, 1797 (clam)
Patricia Fox (snail)
Pegasus Linnaeus, 1758 (seamoth fish)
Penelope (bird)
Phaeton Linnaeus, 1758 (tropicbird)
Phoebe Audinet-Serville, 1835 (longhorn beetle)
Phyllis Gistel, 1847 (leaf beetle; synonymized)
Pinocchio Pagliano & Scaramozzino, 1990 (pteromalid wasp; synonymized)
Plato (spider)
Pluto (aphid wasp)
Polyphemus (water flea)
Poseidon Herklots, 1851 (crustacean)
Priscilla Thomson, 1864 (longhorn beetle)
Prunella (dunnock), also Prunella Linnaeus, 1753 (dragon-head)
Rita Bleeker, 1859 (catfish)
Satan Hubbs & Bailey, 1947 (catfish)
Semiramis Becker, 1913 (bee fly)
Sonia Heinrich, 1926 (tortricid moth)
Sophia Adanson, 1763 (tansy-mustard)
Spartacus (leaf bug)
Sterculius (rove beetle; also the Greek god of the latrine, and a plant genus)
Stromboli (mollusc)
Sylvia (warblers)
Terpsichore (paradise flycatcher)
Thais (snail)
Theseus (stink bug)
Tyson (percine fish)
Vanessa (butterfly)
Venus Linnaeus, 1758 (clam)
Veronica Linnaeus, 1753 (speedwell)
Waldo Nicoll, 1966 (clam; fossil?)
Zeus Linnaeus, 1758 (dory fish)

Acadia Vockeroth (fungus gnat)
Alamosa Hampson, 1901 (pyralid moth; synonymized)
Altoona Hulst, 1888 (pyralid moth; synonymized)
Andes StŒl, 1866 (planthopper)
Appalachia (grasshopper)
Arivaca Shaffer, 1968 (pyralid moth)
Atascosa Hulst, 1890 (pyralid moth)
Atlanta (snail)
Cadiz Andrews & Gilbert 1992 (leaf beetle)
Cayuga Hulst, 1888 (pyralid moth; synonymized)
Cochabamba (leaf beetle)
Corcovado Lane, 1973 (longhorn beetle)
Gardena Dohrn (assassin bug)
Gaza (snail)
Gonzaga (lacewing)
Iberia Kirkaldy, 1907 (leafhopper)
Loyola (lacewing)
Maricopa Hulst, 1890 (pyralid moth)
Memphis (butterfly)
Mexico (beetle)
Mineola Hulst, 1890 (pyralid moth; synonymized)
Narnia StŒl, 1862 (leaf-footed bug)
Nirvana Kirkaldy (leafhopper)
Ocala Hulst, 1892 (pyralid moth)
Osceola Hulst, 1891 (pyralid moth; synonymized)
Patagonia (pyralid moth)
Peoria Ragonot, 1887 (pyralid moth)
Petaluma Hulst, 1888 (pyralid moth; synonymized)
Pima Hulst, 1888 (pyralid moth)
Reynosa Shaffer, 1968 (pyralid moth)
Sarasota Hulst, 1900 (pyralid moth)
Seneca Hulst, 1890 (pyralid moth; synonymized)
Sonoma Casey (rove beetle)
Tacoma Hulst, 1888 (pyralid moth)
Tampa Ragonot, 1887 (pyralid moth)
Tonga Kirkaldy, 1900 (planthopper)
Tulsa Heinrich, 1956 (pyralid moth)
Uinta Hulst, 1888 (pyralid moth)
Unadilla Hulst, 1890 (pyralid moth)
Valdivia Ragonot, 1888 (pyralid moth)
Valencia Sauvage, 1880 (carp)

Alienates (gnat bug)
Ambrosia Linnaeus, 1753 (ragweed)
Amphora Cumberland, 1826 (echinoderm, also a weevil, also a snail)
Anticlimax Pilsbry & McGinty, 1946 (fossil snail)
Apache Kirkaldy, 1901 (derbid planthopper)
Apocrypha Eschscholtz, 1831 (darkling beetle)
Aria (beam-tree)
Athletes (silkmoth)
Aurora Ragonot, 1887 (pyralid moth; synonymized)
Balsa (noctuid moth)
Bandera Ragonot, 1887 (pyralid moth)
Banjos Bleeker, 1876 (percine fish)
Betelgeuse Shaw, 1988 (braconid wasp)
Bonus Moskalev, 1973 (limpet)
Box Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1830 (fish)
Calypso (orchid; also a pteromalid wasp)
Camera Townes, 1962 (ichneumon wasp)
Campanile (mollusc)
Car (weevil)
Cassis (helmet shell)
Chinchilla Girault, 1928 (Encyrtid wasp; synonymized)
Chorus Gray, 1847 (snail)
Circus (hawk)
Cis (fungus beetle)
Conga Evans, 1955 (skipper)
Corona (snail)
Creator Alekseev (megaspilid wasp)
Crypsis (grass)
Cyclops (one-eyed copepod)
Cylinder Montfort, 1810 (snail; now a subgenus)
Decodes Obratsov, 1961 (tortricid moth)
Delta de Saussure, 1855 (wasp)
Demogorgon Kirby, 1891 (earwig; synonymized - the name should be familiar to anyone who has ever played Dungeons and Dragons)
Discus (clam)
Drinker Bakker (dinosaur)
Echidna Forster, 1777 (eel)
Echo Hartman, 1881 (snail; synonymized)
Electron (motmot)
Euphoria Burmeister, 1842 (scarab beetle)
Exotica (mollusc)
Extra Jousseaume, 1894 (snail)
Formica Linnaeus (ant)
Gyros H. Edwards, 1881 (pyralid moth)
Helix Linnaeus, 1758 (snail)
Hero Alder & Hancock, 1855 (nudibranch)
Hiatus Cresson, 1906 (otitid fly)
Idea (danaid butterfly)
Index Boettger, 1877 (snail; now a subgenus)
Indicator (honeyguide birds; Greater Honeyguide is Indicator indicator)
Iron Eaton, 1883 (mayfly; now placed in Epeorus)
Lapsus Pacheco, 1964 (mud beetle)
Lepton Zetterstedt, 1838 (braconid wasp; synonymized)
Lithium Finnamore, 1987 (aphid wasp)
Lo Seale in Jordan & Seale, 1906 (rabbitfish)
Motes (larrine wasp)
Nasturtium (watercress)
Nematodes (false click beetle)
Onus Rafinesque, 1810 (fish)
Palmar Schaefer, 1949 (buprestid beetle)
Panacea Godman & Salvin, 1883 (nymphalid butterfly)
Pandemonium Van Valen, 1994 (fossil mammal)
Pepsis (tarantula hawk wasp)
Peregrinator Kirkaldy (assassin bug)
Philander Linnaeus (opossum)
Planes Rondani, 1863 (hoverfly; name preoccupied)
Platypus (bark beetle)
Podium Fabricius, 1804 (sphecid wasp)
PraysHŸbner, 1825 (moth)
Provocator Watson, 1882 (snail)
Psyche Rang, 1825 (pteropod; synonymized)
Pupa Roding, 1798 (snail)
Purex Burr, 1911 (earwig)
Ragnarok Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal; "Ragnarok" is the Norse mythological apocalypse; synonymized)
Saga (katydid)
Salamis Boisduval (snail)
Saturnalia Langer et al., 1999 (dinosaur)
Schema Becker, 1907 (shore fly)
Scissor Gunther, 1864 (fish)
Sea Hayward (snail)
Sierra Fowler, 1905 (fish)
Silo Curtis, 1830 (caddisfly)
Sirius Hedley, 1900 (snail)
Sphinx Linnaeus, 1758 (sphinx moth)
Sponsor Gory & Laporte, 1839 (buprestid beetle)
Stratus Schaufuss (rove beetle)
Synecdoche (Achilid planthopper)
Titan Matthews, 1858 (microscopic beetle; synonymized)
Torpedo Houttuyn, 1874 (ray)
Troglodytes (wrens)
Tuba Lea, 1838 (snail; synonymized)
Turbo (snail)
Tuxedo Schuh, 2001 (plant bug)
Umbrella Lamarck, 1819 (gastropod; synonymized)
Villa Lioy, 1864 (bee fly; see below for one noteworthy species)
Zen Jordan, 1903 (dory fish)

Amazona Linnaeus (parrot)
Amercedes Casey (weevil)
Anonymos Walt., 1788 (plants, later split up)
Architectonica (snail)
Arthritica (mollusc)
Bloodiella Nowicki (parasitic wasp)
Bulbus Brown, 1839 (snail)
Bunnya Baker, 1941 (snail)
Cacophonia Gistl, 1848 (clam; synonymized)
Centrifuga (mollusc)
Cincinnatia (mollusc)
Compacta Amsel, 1956 (pyralid moth)
Contorta Megerle in Villa, 1841 (snail; synonymized)
Cornucopiae Linnaeus, 1737 (grass; synonymized)
Cucarastichus LaSalle (cockroach hyperparasitic wasp)
Draculo Snyder, 1911 (dragonet fish)
Electrona (lanternfish)
Elephantella Rydb., 1900 (figwort)
Explorator Pacheco, 1964 (mud beetle)
Galaxias (deep-sea fish)
Hallucigenia Conway Morris, 1977 (Cambrian fossil)
Hawaiia Gude, 1911 (snail)
Hebejeebie Heads 2003 (plant; refers to "the anxiety the plants often caused taxonomists")
Hottipula Evenhuis, 1994 (fossil crane fly)
Hunkydora Fleming, 1948 (clam; a subgenus of Myadora)
Illinoia Wilson, 1910 and Iowana Hottes, 1954 (aphids)
Impatiens Linnaeus, 1753 (touch-me-not)
Indecentia Broun (weevil)
Interjectio Heinrich, 1956 (Pyralid moth)
Ittibittium Houbrick, 1993 (mollusks smaller than those in the genus Bittium)
Jamaicia (snail)
Japania Girault, 1911 (chalcidoid wasp)
Jujubinus (mollusc)
Leprechaunus (treehopper)
Lituania Jakimavicius, 1960 (braconid wasp)
Lumpus Rafinesque, 1815 (fish)
Manhatta Hulst, 1890 (pyralid moth)
Meomyia Evenhuis, 1983 (fly)
Meteoria (deep-sea fish)
Monogamus Lutzen, 1976 (snail)
Muscatheres Evenhuis, 1986 ("there are only 3 Muscatheres known")
Mysteria Thomson, 1860 (longhorned beetle)
Notnops, Taintnops, and Tisentnops Platnick, 1994 (spiders; all originally placed in the genus Nops, but Platnick decided these were all distinct new genera)
Omyomymar Schauff, 1983 (parasitic mymarid wasp)
Paraguaya Girault, 1911 (chalcidoid wasp)
Parasitus (mite)
Passadena Hulst, 1900 (pyralid moth)
Problema Skinner & Williams, 1924 (skipper)
Ptomaspis, Dikenaspis, Ariaspis, all by Denison, 1963 (fossil fish; remove the "aspis" from all three names to get the joke)
Ptomomys, Dickomys, and Harryomys, the latter two coined by Wood (the first is pocket gophers, the latter are related fossil taxa)
Sallya Hemming (snail)
Spastica (blister beetle)
Susana (sawfly)
Triumphis Gray, 1847 (snail)
Viviparidae (snail family)

Bambiraptor Burnham et al. 2002 (diminutive theropod dinosaur)
Buzzops Bakker (fossil turtle; named for the proprietor of a popular Rock River, Wyoming bar and cafe)
Dalailama Staudinger, 1896 (moth from Tibet)
Darthvaderum Hunt, 1996 (mite)
Electrolux Compagno & Heemstra, 2007 (electric ray exhibiting "vigorous sucking action")
Excalibosaurus McGowan, 1986 (icthyosaur with a swordlike upper jaw)
Godzillius Yager, 1986 (remipede crustacean)
Haihaoia (snail)
Hildoceras Hyatt, 1867 (fossil ammonite; found in Britain, these fossils can sometimes be found with the free end carved into a snake's head, to honor the local Saxon legend claiming that St. Hilda had killed all the snakes in the region, making them all coil up, turn to stone, and fall into the sea)
Ichabodcraniosaurus Novacek, 1996 (dinosaur; originally found without a head - a head was found later, but no one is sure whether it's the correct head)
Kuckuckia Hollenberg, 1971 (brown alga)
Mandelia (South African sea slug; named for Nelson Mandela)
Pleomothra Yager, 1989 (remipede crustacean; related to Godzillius)
Qantassaurus Rich & Vickers-Rich, 1999 (dinosaur; after Qantas Airlines)
Tubbia (fish)
Vaderscincus Wells & Wellington (skink)
Zappa (goby)

Then there's a large set of honorifics, both at species and genus ranks, for characters and creatures from Tolkien's Middle Earth books:

Anisonchus eowynae Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal; synonym of A. athelas Van Valen, 1978)
Balinia Hedqvist, 1978 (eulophid wasp; synonymized)
Balrogia Hedqvist, 1977 (pteromalid wasp)
Beornia Hedqvist, 1975 (eulophid wasp)
Bofuria Hedqvist, 1978 (pteromalid wasp)
Bomburia Hedqvist, 1978 (pteromalid wasp), also Bomburia, Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal)
Bubogonia bombadili and Protoselene bombadili, Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammals)
Claenodon mumak Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal)
Deltatherium durini Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal)
Durinia Hedqvist, 1978 (eulophid wasp; synonymized)
Dvalinia Hedqvist, 1977 (pteromalid wasp)
Earendil Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal)
Entia Hedqvist, 1974 (eulophid wasp; synonymized)
Fimbrethil ambaronae Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal; synonymized)
Gildoria Hedqvist (braconid wasp)
Gimlia Hedqvist, 1978 (eulophid wasp; synonymized)
Gollum (shark)
Gollumiella Hedqvist, 1978 (eucharitid wasp)
Gwaihiria Naumann (diapriid wasp)
Legolasia Hedqvist, 1974 (pteromalid wasp; synonymized)
Macropsis sauroni Hamilton, 1972 (leafhopper)
Mimatuta morgoth Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal)
Mithrandir Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal)
Nazgulia Hedqvist, 1973 (pteromalid wasp)
Niphredil radagasti Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal; now in genus Paleotomus)
Oinia Hedqvist, 1978 (eulophid wasp; synonymized)
Oxyprimus galadrielae Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal)
Pericompsus bilbo Erwin, 1982 (beetle with big, hairy feet)
Platymastus palantir Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal)
Smeagolia Hedqvist, 1973 (pteromalid wasp; synonymized)
Thangorodrim thalion Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal; now in genus Oxyclaenus)
Tinuviel Van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal)

Afipia (bacterium; acronym for Armed Forces Institute of Pathology)
Cedecea (bacterium; acronym for Centers for Disease Control)
Foadia Pakaluk, 1985 (beetle; FOAD is a well-known, rude acronym - and the name was intentional)
Geocenamus (nematode; stands for "Geographical Center of North America")
Inbiomyia Buck, 2005 (fly; honors the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad in Costa Rica - which, sadly, appears to be on the verge of closing down)
Waddlia (bacterium; acronym for Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory)

Aegrotocatellus Adrain & Edgecombe, 1995 (trilobite; literally "sick puppy", also see below under species)
Clitoria Linnaeus, 1753 (butterfly-pea)
Glans (snail)
Labium Brulle, 1846 (wasp)
Longiphallus Riedel, 1958 (snail; subgenus of Oxychilus)
Ludodactylus Frey et al. 2003 (pterosaur; translates as "play pterodactyl", because it resembles the previously UNrealistic plastic toys that were based on the well-known Pteranodon, but possessed sharp teeth - which Pteranodon lacked)
Lycoperdon (puffball; literally "wolf-fart")
Mammillaria (cactus)
Megapnosaurus Ivie et al. 2002 (dinosaur; literally "big dead lizard" - even though it is somewhat small for a dinosaur - this genus was renamed by entomologists who noticed the original name, Syntarsus, was already preoccupied by a beetle)
Pulchrapollia Dyke & Cooper 2000 (fossil parrot; translates to "Pretty Polly")
Proctaporia Morch, 1857 (nudibranch; synonymized)
Sanctacaris Briggs & Collins, 1988 (fossil chelicerate; literally "Santa claws")
Semen Hoffer, 1954 (encyrtid wasp)
Vagina Megerle, 1811 (clam; synonymized)

Afgoiogfa Argaman (wasp; palindrome)
Antimargarita (snail)
Antiplanes (mollusc)
Arses (monarch flycatcher)
Barrellus Nelson & Bellamy, 1996 (buprestid beetle)
Blaps Fabricius (darkling beetle)
Boops Gronow, 1854 (porgy fish)
Boopsis Pierantoni, 1923 (nudibranch; synonymized)
Cracca Linnaeus, 1753 (goat's rue)
Cryomyia Hull, 1973 (bee fly)
Cylistix (hister beetle)
Eboo (leaf beetle)
Euerythra (arctiid moth)
Eurygenius (Pedilid beetle)
Exix Mason, 1981 (braconid wasp)
Fartulum Carpenter, 1857 (snail)
Fukuia Abbott & Hunter, 1949 (snail)
Glutops (horse fly)
Gopherus (desert tortoise)
Hornia (meloid beetle)
Hypsypops Gill, 1861 (garibaldi fish)
Inkaka Girault, 1939 (chalcidoid wasp)
Ips (bark beetle)
Ittys Girault, 1911 (microscopic parasitic wasps)
Kaniwhaniwhanus Boothroyd, 1998 (midge)
Leylaiya Efflatoun, 1945 (bee fly)
Mimetaster (fossil arthropod)
Mnoonema Motschulsky, 1863 (pteromalid wasp)
Mooa Girault, 1930 (chalcidoid wasp; synonymized)
Moodnodes Neunzig, 1990 (pyralid moth)
Norape Walker, 1855 (megalopygid moth)
Oobius Trjapitsyn (chalcidoid wasp)
Oozetetes De Santis (chalcidoid wasp)
Oreohelix (snail)
Partystona (darkling beetle)
Pnyxia (fly)
Poospiza (warbling-finch)
Prospheres (buprestid beetle)
Pupsikus (nudibranch)
Schizogenius (carabid beetle)
Seleborca Andrassy, 1985 (nematode; split off from genus Acrobeles)
Soranus Rafinesque, 1815 (fish)
Stinga Evans, 1955 (skipper)
Templemania Busck, 1940 (tortricid moth)
Texananus (leafhopper)
Ua Girault, 1929 (torymid wasp)
Xyzzors Inglis, 1966 (nematode)
Zingis Martens, 1878 (snail; now a subgenus)
Zyx Smit, 1953 (flea)
Zyxmyia Bowden, 1960 (bee fly)

Aa Reichenbach, 1858 (orchid; very first genus name alphabetically)
Aaaba Bellamy, 2002 (buprestid beetle)
Aegilops Hall, 1850 (mollusc; longest word with all letters in alphabetical order)
Cicadellidae (leafhoppers; longest name with all letters twice)
Gammaracanthuskytodermogammarus Dybowski, 1926 (amphipod; longest genus name at 31 characters; see below for binomial)
Iouea de Laubenfels, 1955 (extinct sponge)
Schtschurowskia Regel & Schmalhausen, 1882 (umbellifer; longest string of consonants excluding "y")
Zyzzyzus (hydroid; absolute last genus name alphabetically...at present)

Abra cadabra Eames & Wilkins, 1957 (bivalve; now in genus Theora, but "Theora cadabra" just doesn't have the same ring)
Adonnadonna primadonna (siliceous microfossil; after a 60's pop song by Dionne & The Belmonts)
Agra phobia Erwin (carabid beetle)
Amblyoproctus boondocksius Ratcliffe (scarab beetle from the middle of nowhere)
Apopyllus now Platnick & Shadab, 1984 (spider)
Bombylius aureocookae Evenhuis, 1984 (bee fly)
Carmenelectra shechisme Evenhuis, 2002 (fossil bee fly; he wishes!)
Castnia inca dinkadu Miller, 1972 (moth)
Cephise nuspesez Burns (skipper; pronounced "new species")
Chaos chaos Linnaeus, 1767 (amoeba)
Colon forceps Hatch, 1957 (leoidid beetle; genus includes species such as Colon rectum, Colon monstrosum, Colon grossum, Colon horni, and other suggestive combinations)
Cyclocephala nodanotherwon Ratcliffe (scarab beetle)
Diplocraterion yoyo (trace fossil that loops up and down)
Erythroneura ix Myers (leafhopper; now synonymized - it was his 9th species of Erythroneura)
Eophileurus tetraspermexitus Ratcliffe (scarab beetle with cross-like male genital opening)
Eubetia bigaulae Brown (tortricid moth; pronounced "yubetcha bygolly")
Eubetia boop Brown (tortricid moth)
Gelae baen, Gelae belae, Gelae donut, Gelae fish, Gelae rol Miller & Wheeler, 2004 (fungus beetles)
Heerz lukenatcha Marsh, 1993 (braconid wasp)
Heerz tooya Marsh, 1993 (braconid wasp)
Kamera lens Woodcock, 1917 (protist)
La cerveza Landry (pyralid moth)
Lycaena fascista Turati, 1927 (butterfly; synonymized)
Oedipus complex (salamander; now in genus Oedipina)
Oedipus rex (salamander)
Ohmyia omya Thompson, 1999 (syrphid fly)
Panama canalia Marsh, 1993 (braconid wasp)
Pieza deresistans, Pieza kake, Pieza pi, Pieza rhea Evenhuis, 2002 (bee flies)
Reissa roni Evenhuis & Baez 2001 (bee fly)
Strategus longichomperus Ratcliffe (scarab beetle with long mandibles)
Taumacera sucki Weise, 1922 (leaf beetle)
Tyrannasorus rex Ratcliffe & Ocampo 2001 (scarab beetle)
Verae peculya Marsh, 1993 (braconid wasp)
Victoria regina (water lily)
Villa manillae Evenhuis, 1993 (bee fly)
Vini vidivici Steadman & Zarriello, 1987 (a recently extinct parrot)
Ytu brutus Spangler, 1980 (beetle)

Achelousaurus horneri Sampson, 1995 (a hornless ceratopsian dinosaur; the genus is named for Achelous, a Greek river god whose horn was broken in a battle with Heracles, and the species name is for paleontologist Jack Horner, and also - in a clever bit of wordplay - "replaces the lost horn")
Aegrotocatellus jaggeri and Perirehaedulus richardsi Adrain & Edgecombe, 1995 (trilobites; see above regarding Aegrotocatellus)
Agathidium vaderi Miller & Wheeler, 2004 (slime-mold beetle; named for its "broad, shiny, helmetlike head")
Amaurotoma zappa & Anomphalus jaggerius Plas, 1972 (fossil snails)
Anophthalmus hitleri (blind cave beetle; endangered, mostly by collectors of Hitler memorabilia)
Arcticalymene viciousi, A. rotteni, A. jonesi, A. cooki, A. matlocki Adrain & Edgecombe, 1997 (trilobites; for the uninitiated, the Sex Pistols)
Arthurdactylus conan-doylei Frey & Martill, 1994 (Brazilian fossil pterosaur)
Avalanchurus lennoni, Avalanchurus starri, and Struszia mccartneyi Edgecombe & Chatterton, 1993 (trilobites)
Baeturia laureli and B. hardyi De Boer, 1986 (cicadas)
Bobkabata kabatabobbus (parasitic copepod named after Bob Kabata)
Bufonaria borisbeckeri Parth, 1996 (sea snail; rumors that Boris Becker PAID to have it named after him are untrue)
Callicebus aureipalatii Wallace, 2005 (a titi monkey; "aureipalatii" meaning "of the Golden Palace", honoring the company that placed the high bid - US$650,000 - in a fund-raising auction for the Bolivian National Park in which the monkey was discovered)
Calponia harrisonfordi Platnick (spider)
Campsicnemus charliechaplini Evenhuis, 1996 (dolichopodid fly; named "because of the curious tendency of this fly to die with its midlegs in a bandy-legged position")
Campsicnemus uncleremus Evenhuis, 2000 (dolichopodid fly)
Captaincookia margaretae Halle (Rubiaceae from New Caledonia)
Carukia barnesi (Australian jellyfish; named for the doctor who, upon discovering this species and wishing to determine if it were responsible for a local medical syndrome affecting swimmers, allowed it to sting himself, his son, and a volunteer - all of whom spent hours in agony as a result, confirming the hypothesis)
Celmus michaelmus Adrain & Fortey, 1997 (trilobite whose abdominal apex looks like a Mouseketeer hat)
Ceraeochrysa michaelmuris Adams & Penny (lacewing whose abdominal apex looks like a Mouseketeer hat)
Conus tribblei (cone snail; named for a cat called "Tribbles," who had been named for Star Trek's furry, prolific "tribbles")
Cribrarula gravida Moretzsohn 2002 (snail; gravida means pregnant in Portuguese, and the author's wife was pregnant at the time he discovered the species, whose shell is inflated, resembling a pregnant woman's womb - by coincidence, his wife found out she was pregnant again the same week the description was published)
Cyanea kuhihewa Lammers, 1996 (Hawaiian bellflower; the Hawaiian verb kuhihewa means "to make an error of judgment, to mistake someone for someone else, to not recognize someone when you first see him" - the species was at first thought by its collectors to be a rediscovery of a presumably extinct species, but only on closer study was it determined to be a new species)
Cyanea pohaku Lammers, 1988 (Hawaiian bellflower; "pohaku" is Hawaiian for "rock", which botanist Joseph Rock, who discovered this plant, had adopted as a sobriquet)
Cyclocephala rorschachoides Ratcliffe (scarab beetle with an amorphous black blob marking)
Cypraea isabella Linnaeus (snail, "Isabella's cowrie"; Linnaeus named this parchment colored, brown-streaked, cowrie after the color 'Isabella' which in turn was named for the soiled calico of Archduchess Isabella of Austria, who vowed not to change her underwear until her father, Philip II, won the siege of Ostend. The siege lasted 3 years!)
Dicrotendipes thanatogratus Epler, 1987 (midge; epithet means "Grateful Dead")
Draculoides bramstokeri Harvey & Humphreys, 1995 (spider)
Dysnocryptus balthasar, D. gaspar, and D. melchior Holloway (weevils from Three Kings' Islands)
Erechthias beeblebroxi Robinson & Nelson, 1993 (tineid moth with false head; after Zaphod Beeblebrox, character from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" with two heads)
Bidenichthys beeblebroxi Paulin, 1995 (a triplefin blenny fish with false head)
Fiordichthys slartibartfasti Paulin, 1995 (another triplefin blenny fish, named after another "Hitchhiker's" character who designed fjords)
Gorgonocephalus medusae (basket star; "Gorgonocephalus" means "Gorgon-headed" - Medusa was one of the snake-haired Gorgons, whose head was cut off by Perseus)
Helobdella nununununojensis Siddall 2001 (leech; from Nununununoj, a Quechua placename, "The Place of Very Bare Breasts", from Nunu meaning nipple)
Hoia hoi Avdeev & Kazatchenko, 1986 (parasitic copepod; named after Ju-Shey Ho)
Hortipes terminator Bosselaers & Jocque 2000 (spider; male palpi resemble a "futuristic gun")
Hyla stingi Kaplan, 1994 (tree frog; named after Sting for his efforts on behalf of rain forests)
Indri indri (lemur; according to some sources, "indri" is Malagasy for "Look!")
Irritator challengeri Martill et al., 1996 (dinosaur; named after the annoying Professor Challenger from Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World")
Lepidotrigla jimjoebob Richards, 1992 (fish)
Mackenziurus johnnyi, M. joeyi, M. deedeei, M. ceejayi Adrain & Edgecombe, 1997 (trilobites; for the uninitiated, The Ramones)
Madeleinea lolita Balint, 1993 and Pseudolucia humbert Balint & Johnson, 1995 (lycaenid butterflies in a group studied by Nabokov, who first named the genus Pseudolucia)
Moira atropos (heart urchin; the Moirae are also known as the Three Fates: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos)
Mozartella beethoveni Girault, 1926 (Encyrtid wasp)
Napoleonaea imperialis (bromeliad)
Neopilina galatheae (archaic snail; named after the deep-sea exploration vessel Galathea)
Orsonwelles othello, O. macbeth, O. falstaffius, O. ambersonorum Hormiga 2002 (spiders; named after famous Orson Welles roles)
Oxybelus cocacolae Verhoeff, 1968 (fly-eating sand wasp)
Pachygnatha zappa Bosmans & Bosselaers, 1994 (spider "with a Zappa-moustache-like black mark on the ventral side of the abdomen")
Pheidole harrisonfordi and P. mooreorum Wilson 2002 (ants; Harrison Ford served as Vice Chairman of Conservation International, and Wilson honored him with a new ant species, and named another after Gordon Moore, founder of Intel, and his wife, for their environmental philanthropy)
Pimoa cthulhu Hormiga, 1994 (spider; named after H.P. Lovecraft's most evil, dreadful, and hideous fictional creation)
Preseucoila imallshookupis Buffington, 2004 (gall wasp; genus named after Elvis Presley, epithet after one of his songs)
Proceratium google Fisher, 2005 (ant; honors the mapping software Fisher used in his research)
Psephophorus terrypratchetti Kohler, 1995 (fossil turtle; Pratchett's Discworld stories are set in a world carried on the back of a giant turtle)
Pseudatrichia atombomba Kelsey, 1969 (window fly; described from Alamogordo, New Mexico)
Quetzalcoatlus northropi Lawson, 1975 (pterosaur; Quetzalcoatl was the Aztec god of the air and Northrop was an aircraft designer)
Roberthoffstetteria nationalgeographica (fossil vertebrate)
Rosenblattia robusta Mead & De Falla (a robust deep-sea fish named for the equally robust Richard Rosenblatt of Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
Rostropria garbo Early (diapriid wasp; described from "a solitary female")
Salvia leninae Epling, 1941 (named after the mule that carried the collector of the new species on his field trips)
Salmonella enterica mjordan (a strain of intestinal bacteria named after basketball superstar Michael Jordan)
Sinemys gamera (fossil turtle from Japan; named for the giant, flying, fire-breathing Japanese movie turtle "Gamera" - its shell even sports two sweptback 'winglike' projections)
Sorolopha bruneiregalis Tuck & Robinson, 1994 (tortricid moth; after Royal Brunei Airlines)
Strigiphilus garylarsoni Clayton (owl louse)
Stylaclista quasimodo Early (diapriid wasp)
Sula abbotti costelloi Steadman, Schubel & Pahlavan, 1988 (a recently extinct booby)
Sylvilagus palustris hefneri (a "bunny")
Tetragnatha quasimodo (humpbacked Hawaiian spider)
Villa sodom Williston, 1893 (bee fly)
Walckenaeria pinocchio Kaston, 1945 (spider with a long "nose")
Wallacea darwini Hill, 1919 (stratiomyid fly; named for the co-discoverers of natural selection)
Xenox simson Fabricius, 1805, followed up by Xenox delila Loew, 1869 (bee flies)

Apterichtus [sic] ansp Boehlke (named for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia)
Atalodera ucri (nematode; acronym for University of California, Riverside)
Drinker nisti Bakker (dinosaur; acronym for National Institute of Standards and Technology)
Glyptospira arelela Plas, 1972 (fossil snail; epithet is a phonetic version of the initials of Plas' colleague R.L. Langenheim, Jr.)
Heterodera mani (nematode; acronym for Ministry of Agriculture, Northern Ireland)
Jurassosaurus nedegoapeferkimorum Dong & Holden, 1992 (fragmentary ankylosaur fossil; the epithet is a quasi-acronym based on the names of people involved in "Jurassic Park" - NEil, DErn, GOldblum, Attenborough, PEck, FERrero, Knight, rIchards, and Mazzello - the "-orum" simply indicates the name refers to two or more people)
Lasioglossum gattaca Danforth & Wcislo (sweat bee; named after part of its DNA base sequence, GATTACA)
Meloidogyne naasi (nematode; acronym for National Agricultural Advisory Service)
Natalichthys ori Winterbottom, 1980 (fish; genus name is "fish from Natal", epithet is acronym for Oceanographic Research Institute of Durban, South Africa)
Natalichthys sam Winterbottom, 1980 (fish; acronym for South African Museum, where the specimen was found)
Physalaemus enesefae Heatwole, Solano & Heatwole, 1965 (frog; named after National Science Foundation)
Thomasomys apeco Leo & Gardner, 1993 (mouse; acronym for Asociacion Peruana para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza)
Trichogramma esalqueanum Querino & Zucchi 2003 (wasp; acronym for Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz" - where the authors work)

Alysicarpus vaginalis (plant)
Amorphophallus titanum (giant aroid, the world's largest flower; other suggestively-named species in the same genus include impressus, elegans, pygmaeus, maximus, minor, gigas, odoratus, pendulus, rugosus, etc.)
Angelica archangelica Schrank, 1818 (umbellifer; synonymized)
Arca noae (clam; means Noah's Ark)
Argonauta argo (paper nautilus)
Bothriomyrmex decapitans Santschi, 1920 (parasitic ant species whose queens allow themselves to be dragged into the nests of other ants, where they climb onto the acting queen and gnaw her head off, then taking her place)
Bothriomyrmex regicidus Santschi, 1919 (parasitic ant species whose queens invade the nests of other ants and release a pheromone that provokes the workers into killing the real queen, so the parasite can take over)
Capparis cynophallophora (Jamaican caper)
Chloridops regiskongi James & Olson, 1991 (large, extinct Hawaiian finch)
Confuciusornis sanctus Hou et al., 1995 (dinosaur; translates as "Holy Confucius' Bird")
Crepidula fornicata (slipper shell which forms stacks of individuals)
Eriogonum inflatum var. deflatum Johnston (buckwheat)
Cuterebra emasculator Fitch, 1856 (bot fly which consumes the host rodent's testes)
Cuterebra sterilator Lugger, 1897 (ditto)
Equus hemionus (the Onager or Asiatic Wild Ass; "Hemionus" translates to "half-ass")
Eucritta melanolimnetes Clark, 1998 (fossil amphibian; translates as "true creature from the black lagoon")
Exetastes fornicator Fabricius, 1781 (ichneumon wasp)
Funkotriplogynium iagobadius Seeman & Walter, 1997 (mite; Iago = James and badius = brown)
Glossus humanus (heart cockle, but name means "human tongue")
Labia minor Linnaeus (earwig)
Lactarius nonfungus (a fish)
Lactarius nonpiscis (a fungus)
Monochamus titillator Fabricius (longhorned beetle)
Nessiteras rhombopteryx (meaningless "scientific" name coined for the mythical Loch Ness Monster - literally means "Rhomboid-finned Ness Monster", but is also an anagram for "Monster hoax by Sir Peter S" - referring to Sir Peter Scott, who helped coin the name!)
Ovula ovum (mollusc commonly called the Egg Shell)
Penicillus penis Linnaeus, 1758 (mollusc)
Penicillus vaginiferus Lamarck, 1818 (mollusc)
Phallus daemonicum (Stinkhorn fungus)
Phallus impudicus (Stinkhorn fungus)
Piseinotecus divae Er. Marcus, 1955 (gastropod; "Piseinotecus" means "I stepped on Teco" - Teco was a dog belonging to a diva, and one of the Marcuses stepped on the dog on the way to the kitchen in the middle of the night)
Turdus migratorius (robin; NOT a migrating turd)
Vampyroteuthis infernalis (deepsea squid; literally "Vampire Squid from Hell")
Venus mercenaria Linnaeus (clam; literally "Venus selling favors" but the name was derived from the use of this species as money - called "wampum" - by Native Americans; now placed in the genus Mercenaria)

Abracadabrella birdsville Zabka, 1991 (jumping spider)
Alaptus ah & Alaptus oh Girault, 1930 (mymarid wasps)
Apionion humongum Kissinger, 1998 (weevil)
Apolysis crisis Evenhuis, 1990 (bee fly)
Awuka spazzola Marcus, 1955 (nudibranch; now in genus Jorunna)
Balbaroo fangaroo Cooke (a kangaroo with large fangs)
Carynota stupida Walker (treehopper)
Crex crex (corncrake)
Desmatomyia jambalaia Hall & Evenhuis, 1987 (fly)
Dives dives dives (Mexican grackle)
Dorcus titanus (stag beetle; a casual reading might suggest "Titanic Dork")
Drepanovelia millennium Andersen & Weir 2001 (water strider)
Dziwneono etcetera Dworakowska, 1972 (leafhopper; in addition to the unusual epithet, the generic name means "It is strange" in Polish)
Evylaeus fartus Vachal, 1904 (sweat bee)
Glis glis (dormouse)
Horridonia horrida (fossil brachiopod)
Lablab lablab (hyacinth bean; now in the genus Dolichos)
Lagynodes ooii Dessart, 1982 (ceraphronid wasp)
Lima lima (clam)
Liogenys gayanus Solier (scarab beetle)
Mops mops (mormoopid bat)
Oedipodrilus oedipus Holt (worm)
Orizabus subaziro Ratcliffe (scarab beetle; palindrome)
Papagona papoosa Ball, 1935 (planthopper)
Rhyacophila tralala Schmid (caddisfly)
Saurus soarus (a gliding lizard)
Sinclairocerus haha (fossil cephalopod)
Stigmella ridiculosa (the world's tiniest moth, with a wingspan of 2 mm)
Trichogramma itsybitsi Pinto & Stouthamer 2002 (tiny parasitic wasp)
Xela alex Thompson, 1999 (syrphid fly; another palindrome)

Gammaracanthuskytodermogammarus loricatobaicalensis Dybowski, 1926 (amphipod; at 50 characters, the longest binomial)
Ia io Thomas, 1902 (chinese bat; the shortest binomial, probably the only all-vowel binomial)
Plesiothrips o Girault (thrips)
Cartwrightia cartwrighti Cartwright (scarab beetle; the only scientific name where the genus, species, and author names form a sequence using successive subtraction of the last letter to form the next word)