Marvelous: Loki, Deadpool And Thor - Meet Australia’s New Fly Species

Thor, Deadpool, Loki and Black Widow are just some of the names given to five new species of Australian flies by scientists in the country.

The names, all based on Marvel characters, were assigned by scientists at the federal government agency (CSIRO) and are included in a list of 165 new species of insects and plants.

There is the Thor fly, scientifically named "Daptolestes bronteflavus", which stems from Latin like most scientific names and translates to "blonde thunder" in homage to the "God of Thunder", played in the new Marvel film by Chris Hemsworth.

Morning @chrishemsworth! Check out your new assassin fly species 'bronteflavus', meaning blond thunder named by @TheScienceRobin from our team at @CSIRO. https://t.co/DYzePzZruQ pic.twitter.com/YR2LFeVYVD
— Dr Bryan Lessard (@BrytheFlyGuy) July 28, 2020

Characteristically, the Thor fly has light brown and gold specs on its body, antenna and face, resembling Thor's blonde hair and the gold details on his outfits.

CSIRO Entomologist Dr Bryan Lessard, also known as "Bry the Fly Guy", said only a quarter of Australian insects are known to science and "it's important to name these species otherwise we lose them to science."

According to Dr Lessard, the Deadpool fly is "an assassin".

He said the name Humorolethalis sergius was chosen because "it sounds like lethal humour" and is derived from the Latin words humorosus, meaning wet or moist, and lethalis meaning dead.

Introducing the @Deadpool fly and other heroic new species named after Marvel characters. These join 165 new species of insects, plants, fish, mites and birds named by @CSIRO scientists this year from #CSIROCollections https://t.co/DYzePzZruQ pic.twitter.com/HqkuRrKKus
— Dr Bryan Lessard (@BrytheFlyGuy) July 28, 2020

The Deadpool fly is orange, red and black in colour similarly to the suit Ryan Reynold's character wears and shares similar markings as Deadpool's masks.

Loki's fly, or Daptolestes illusiolautus, also derived from Latin means elegant deception, and is in tribute to the "God of Mischief" - Tom Hiddleston's character in the Marvel films.

Black Widow's fly, or Daptolestes feminategus, which translates to woman wearing leather from Latin is another homage to Scarlett Johansson's character, also known as Natasha Romanoff - who wears leather suits in the franchise.

There is also a Stan Lee fly in honour of the late Marvel Comics creator, Lee known as the founding force behind the Marvel leviathan also co-created Spider Man and other popular characters.

The CSIRO list of new species also named 151 new bugs, eight new plants, two new fish, one new mite that lives on a lizard, three new subspecies of bird, and 25 marine invertebrates.

A few of on the list were found several years ago and stayed unnamed, while others were a more current discoveries.

[ By iTV ]