Agathidium cheneyi is a slime-mold beetle of the

Leiodidae Leiodidae is a family of beetles with around 3800 described species found worldwide. Members of this family are commonly called round fungus beetles due to the globular shape of many species, although some are more elongated in shape. They are ...

family. The species is known from a collection obtained in Chiapas, Mexico It was named after the former US vice President

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former ...

by two researchers at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

, one of sixty five newly described species that emerged from a review of several large museum collections of slime-mold beetles of the genus ''

Agathidium ''Agathidium'' is a genus of beetles in the family '' Leiodidae''. ''A. bushi'', ''A. cheneyi'' and ''A. rumsfeldi'' are species of this genus named after George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, respectively, by two former Cornell e ...

''. Along with taxa named for

Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as United States Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and a ...

and George W. Bush, the entomologists stated that these epithets were a homage to these members of the US government rather than any specific resemblance.

References

Press Release
from Cornell News Leiodidae Beetles described in 2005 Beetles of North America Dick Cheney {{Leiodidae-stub