By ANNE BESTON
It's a very beautiful beetle, says entomologist Dr Richard Leschen, just in case the Prime Minister had any doubts about her new namesake.
Yesterday, Helen Clark said she was very honoured that a rare, tiny, hairy beetle had been named Ostreacryptus clarkae.
But she didn't think they had
much in common.
"I'm not sure there's anything about its looks or habits that would be directly relevant," she joked.
Perhaps she didn't notice the tough outer shell and large, efficient-looking antennae.
Dr Leschen said he chose the name Clark's beetle because of the Prime Minister's care for the environment.
"Helen Clark was a Minister of Conservation and she gets out and tramps, she visited Peter Blake in the Amazon and it seems to me she's more involved in the environment than most politicians."
The naming of Clark's beetle is the final step in scientifically "describing", it and Dr Leschen's findings will be published today in New Zealand Entomologist.
The process has taken about four years, although the pinhead-sized beetle was first collected in 1982.
It has been found only twice, both times in the Marlborough Sounds.
The beetle belongs to the silken fungus beetle family and is an example of the Earth's most ancient organisms.
Its most unusual characteristic is that it has minute wings but does not fly.
"In the world of vertebrates the beetle find is equivalent to discovering a kiwi that has the ability to fly," Dr Leschen said.
Clark's beetle could therefore contribute to research on the evolution of New Zealand's native species because it provides a link between beetles that fly and those that don't.
The beetle's genus name, Ostreacryptus, comes from Dr Leschen's love of Bluff oysters (Ostrea is Greek for oyster).
The 40-year-old entomologist emigrated from the United States four years ago. His job at Landcare Research is to describe new species, which keeps him busy because it's estimated only about half our native beetles, about 5000 of them, are known to science.
Dr Leschen could not really explain his beetlemania.
"It's a bit like trying to explain why some people like pavlova and some don't. But I've liked them since I was a kid - they're fascinating."
