Soo, while browsing internet late at night I stumbled across this gem. There is this fly called Megapropodiphora arnoldi which is actually named after former California governor and famous bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Intrigued? Then read on. ;)

But. Why?

One of the perks of discovering some new organism is the opportunity to name it. And this was also the case of entomologist Brian Brown who knew exactly how to name the fly he discovered. Just look at it. Those arms (well, legs). You have to admit that there are some similarities between this little fella and Mr. Schwarzenegger.

Drawings of Megapropodiphora arnoldi. Dorsal and ventral view.
Source

The author, Brian Brown, stated this:

“As soon as I saw those bulging legs, I knew I had to name this one after Arnold. Not only is he a major cultural icon and an important person in the political realm, his autobiography gave me some hope that I could improve my body as a skinny teenager.”

The smallest fly on the world

Appart from its bizarre name it is possible that this fly is actually the tiniest fly in the world – with body length only 0,395 mm. At least as far as we know. Brown discovered M. arnoldi in the Brazilian Amazon and actually almost missed it due to its small size.

A bit of biology

Well, not much is known as there was only one specimen observed. The lady (it was female fly) Brown discovered is almost certainly parasitoid. Its enlarged legs are probably used to clutch a host- such as ant or termite and hold onto it until they return to their home nests. The other legs as well as wings are largely reduced. The rounded shape of the body also shows some similarities with phoretic mites that are known to parasite on bees for example.

Photomicrograph of the female of the new species Megapropodiphora arnoldi.
Source

Conclusion

It is quite hard to find any new large animals, but there is plenty of room for small ones. So, if you are entomologist or microbiologist or anything, then keep trying and maybe one day you will name your own creature.

Have a great day!

References

1 – Brown B (2018) A second contender for “world’s smallest fly” (Diptera: Phoridae). Biodiversity Data Journal 6: e22396.
2 – New ‘big-armed fly’ species named after former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Image sources

All the images belong to Mr. Brian V. Brown and are taken from his open-access research article.