Top 10 – 2008
Number 9 – Life Imitates Art: “Dim” Rhinoceros beetle
Name: Megaceras briansaltini
How it made the Top 10: Rhinoceros beetles are named for the horn-like structures on their heads. According to the author, this charismatic new species has a unique form of horn that is otherwise similar only to the one on Dim, the blue rhinoceros beetle in the Disney/Pixar animated film A Bug's Life. This makes for a rare instance of Nature imitating art.
Reference: Ratcliffe, B.C. 2007. A remarkable new species of Megaceras from Peru (Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Oryctini). The “Dim Effect”: Nature mimicking art. The Coleopterists Bulletin 61(3): 463-467.
Type material: Holotype, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln.