RuPaul has Australian fly with ‘rainbow colours and legs for days’ officially named after him
“I was watching a lot of Drag Race while examining the species," says Dr Bryan Lessard of 'Opaluma rupaul'.
Words: Jamie Tabberer; picture: WoW/press image
An Australian fly species with “rainbow colours and legs for days” has been named after RuPaul.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), an Australian Government agency, announced the news today.
The agency solder fly has been named Opaluma rupaul to reflect its “iridescent colours,” a rep said.
“Hopefully she’ll appreciate the name”
CSIRO entomologist Bryan Lessard came up with the name, and is quoted in The Guardian as saying: “I was watching a lot of RuPaul’s Drag Race while examining the species and I know it would challenge RuPaul on the runway serving fierce looks.”
Dr Lessard continued: “It has a costume of shiny metallic rainbow colours, and it has legs for days. I think once [Ru] sees the fly she’ll realise it’s quite fierce and hopefully appreciate the name.”
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Lessard has named 50 species of fly – many of them endangered – including Scaptia beyonceae in 2011.
“Naming a species is the first step to understanding and protecting them because otherwise, they’re invisible to science,” Lessard explained.
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“We’ve probably lost thousands of species we don’t even know about in the bushfires because they haven’t been documented when it’s so important our native species get that attention.
“That’s why I want to give them fabulous names, to get people excited about them.”
TV host Ru is yet to comment on the news publicly – but we can see this being right up her absurdist street!
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