Agathidium is a genus of beetles in the family Leiodidae

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...

.

A. bushi, A. cheneyi, A. rumsfeldi and A. vaderi are species of this genus named after George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney

Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....

, Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...

 and Darth Vader

Darth Vader

Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....

 respectively, by two former Cornell

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

 entomologists, Dr Kelly B. Miller (now at Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

) and Dr Quentin D. Wheeler (now at ASU

ASU

ASU may refer to:* ASU-57, Soviet airborne support gun* ASU-85, Soviet airborne support gun* Aikido Schools of Ueshiba* Air separation unit* Airport Security Unit...

). According to Miller and Wheeler, the naming of the beetles (who were three of 65 species to be named) was done in homage to the political figures.

Some species can roll themselves up into an almost complete sphere, similar to pillbugs. Some males have horns on their left mandibles to dislodge rival males.

Selected species

Agathidium arcticum Thomson, 1862

Agathidium atrum (Paykull, 1798)

Agathidium badium Erichson, 1845

Agathidium bushi Miller et Wheeler, 2005

Agathidium cheneyi Miller et Wheeler, 2005

Agathidium confusum Brisout de Barneville, 1863

Agathidium convexum Sharp, 1866

Agathidium discoideum Erichson, 1845

Agathidium gutianense Angelini et Cooter, 1999

Agathidium haemorrhoum Erichson, 1845

Agathidium laevigatum Erichson, 1845

Agathidium mandibulare Sturm, 1807

Agathidium marginatum Sturm, 1807

Agathidium nigrinum Sturm, 1807

Agathidium nigripenne (Fabricius, 1792)

Agathidium pallidum (Gyllenhal, 1827)

Agathidium pisanum Brisout de Barneville, 1872

Agathidium plagiatum (Gyllenhal, 1810)

Agathidium pulchellum Wankowicz, 1869

Agathidium rotundatum (Gyllenhal, 1827)

Agathidium rumsfeldi Miller et Wheeler, 2005

Agathidium seminulum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Agathidium vaderi Miller et Wheeler, 2005

Agathidium varians Beck, 1817

External links

• Press Release from Cornell News
• Dr Kelly B Miller's homepage
• Dr Quentin D Wheeler's homepage