''Strigiphilus garylarsoni'' is a species of
chewing louse
The Mallophaga are a possibly paraphyletic section of lice
Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been re ...
found only on
owl
Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
s. The species has no common name.
The species was first
described by biologist
Dale H. Clayton in 1990.
Host
Its
type host is the
Northern white-faced owl (''Ptilopsis leucotis'').
Distribution
The
type location is
Ndola
Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia and third in terms of size and population, with a population of 475,194 (''2010 census provisional''), after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development aft ...
,
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...
.
Etymology
It was named after
Gary Larson
Gary Larson (born August 14, 1950) is an American cartoonist, environmentalist, and former musician. He is the creator of ''The Far Side'', a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to more than 1,900 newspapers for fif ...
, creator of the syndicated cartoon ''
The Far Side
''The Far Side'' is a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Chronicle Features and then Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from December 31, 1979, to January 1, 1995 (when Larson retired as a cartoonist). Its surreali ...
.'' In a letter to Larson, Clayton praised the cartoonist for "the enormous contribution that my colleagues and I feel you have made to biology through your cartoons." In his 1989 book ''
The Prehistory of the Far Side
''The Prehistory of The Far Side: A 10th Anniversary Exhibit'' is a 1989 book chronicling the origin and evolution of '' The Far Side'' (including cartoonist Gary Larson's first strip, ''Nature's Way''), giving inside information about the cartoo ...
'', Larson stated, "I considered this an extreme honor. Besides, I knew no one was going to write and ask to name a new species of swan after me. You have to grab these opportunities when they come along."
Clayton wrote he honored Larson "in appreciation of the unique light he has shed on the workings of nature."
See also
*
List of organisms named after famous people (born 1950–present)
In biological nomenclature, organisms often receive scientific names that honor a person. A taxon (e.g. species or genus; plural: taxa) named in honor of another entity is an eponym, eponymous taxon, and names specifically honoring a person or pers ...
* ''
Serratoterga larsoni''
*
Thagomizer
A thagomizer () is the distinctive arrangement of four spikes on the tails of stegosaurine dinosaurs. These spikes are believed to have been a defensive measure against predators.Carpenter, K., Sanders, F., McWhinney, L., and Wood, L. 2005. Ev ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Insects described in 1990
The Far Side
Lice
Parasites of birds
Insects of Zambia
{{louse-stub