New species of fly named after 'Game of Thrones' villain
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Winter may have come and gone for "Game of Thrones" and its infamous character, the Night King, but his legacy is poised to live on — in the form of an insect.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has named a newly discovered bee fly found in Australia Paramonovius nightking after the big bad from the hit TV show, which was watched by millions around the globe.
"It has a serious side, but naming new species is the most fun a taxonomist can have," CSIRO's National Research Collections Australia entomologist Bryan Lessard said in a statement.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Paramonovius nightking is a bee fly named after Game of Thrones’ Night King because it reigns in winter and has a crown of spinelike hairs. The name was chosen by Game of Thrones fan Xuankun Li, a PhD student at the Australian National Insect Collection in Canberra. (Credit: CSIRO)
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Lessard added that the name came from Xuankun Li, a Ph.D. student at CSIRO and a huge fan of the HBO show, "proving that inspiration for new species names can come from anywhere."
Paramonovius nightking is an apt name for the fly. It only appears in the winter in a small portion of Western Australia and has a crown of spinelike hairs, Lessard told the BBC.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bee flies look similar in appearance to bees to avoid being eaten by birds but are still members of the fly family. In addition to Australia, they are seen widely in the Northern Hemisphere, including in parts of North America, Europe and Asia, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
The new fly was one of 230 species that CSIRO gave an official name over the past year.