Whirligig beetle gets rock 'n' roll lege...( TEMPE Ariz. An unusual new species ...)

TEMPE, Ariz. An unusual new species of whirligig beetle from India is being named Orectochilus orbisonorum in honor of the late rock n roll legend Roy Orbison and his widow Barbara.

Arizona State University entomologist Quentin Wheeler announced the description and discovery of the beetle species Jan. 25 during a Roy Orbison Tribute Concert, part of a weekend of tribute events hosted by ASUs Center for Film, Media and Popular Culture and the Tempe Center for the Arts.

Barbara Orbison attended the concert, as well as hundreds of fans, Orbisons sons Wesley and Roy Kelton Orbison Jr., and songwriters and filmmakers who worked with the legendary musician.

I have never seen an honor like that, Barbara Orbison said in expressing her appreciation for the species naming.

To mark the occasion, an original work of art a pigment inkjet print titled Whirligig was presented to Orbison during the concert.

Its a token of admiration for Roys body of work and all you do to keep his music alive, said Wheeler in presenting the art work to Orbison. Wheeler is director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University where he also is a professor in the School of Life Sciences and vice president and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The art, a painting with pixels on cotton water color paper, features nine images of a whirligig beetle in Andy Warhol style. It was created by Charles J. Kazilek, a senior research professional in ASUs School of Life Sciences where he hosts a popular childrens podcast Ask a Biologist. Kazilek also has a degree from ASUs Herberger College of the Arts.

In describing the work, Wheeler quipped: The style of the print is Warhol meets Carl Linnaeus, making a reference to the father of taxonomy and the practice and science of classification.

Wheeler co-authored the research behind the discovery of the new species Orectochilus orbis
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