Beetle named after Greta Thunberg

A tiny species of beetle discovered more than 50 years ago has been named after environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg.

The scientific name for this new tiny species of Beetle is 'Nelloptodes gretae' and bears little resemblance to its namesake, reports BBC.

Scientists at the Natural History Museum in London have officially called the insect Nelloptodes gretae to honour the 16-year-old Swedish activist's "outstanding contribution" in raising global awareness of climate change.

The arthropod is less than 1mm long, and has no wings or eyes but has two pigtail-like antennas. It belongs to the Ptiliidae family, which is made up of some of the world's smallest beetles.

The name-giver, British scientist Dr Michael Darby, said, "I chose this name as I am immensely impressed with the work of this young campaigner and wanted to acknowledge her outstanding contribution in raising awareness of environmental issues."

The beetle was first found in 1965 by British naturalist Dr William C Block in Nairobi, Kenya - who donated his samples to the Natural History Museum in London in 1978. It has been held in one of the museum's collections since.

Darby was studying this collection when he came across the then-nameless species.

It has now been formally named in the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine.

Dr Max Barclay, the museum's senior curator in charge of beetles, said the name was apt because "it is likely that undiscovered species are being lost all the time, before scientists have even named them, because of biodiversity loss".

"So it is appropriate to name one of the newest discoveries after someone who has worked so hard to champion the natural world and protect vulnerable species," he added.

Who else has an animal named after them?

For scientists, naming a newly discovered species after themselves is simply not done - which means they need to be a bit more creative.

This is how we now have a parasite named after Bob Marley (Gnathia marleyi), a genus of fish called after Richard Dawkins (Dawkinsia), and a small park's worth of species - both alive and extinct - named after Sir David Attenborough.

Sometimes animals are named after celebrities the scientists admire, as with the N. gretae beetle, or a spider called Spintharus leonardodicaprioi.

Other times, it's because the celebrity is known to have a particular fondness for that animal - as with the lemur named after John Cleese, Avahi cleesei.

Only sometimes the animals bear some resemblance to the celebrity they're named after.