Homely beetle named for Stephen Colbert

WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert has been honored, sort of, by having a beetle named after him, U.S. entomologists said.

Agaporomorphus colberti is a bulbous, brown, not particularly attractive diving beetle found in Venezuela, The Washington Times reported Friday.

Colbert last year asked the science community to name something other than a spider after him, his top choices being a giant ant or a laser lion, said Quentin Wheeler, an entomologist at Arizona State University.

"While those would be cool species to discover, our research involves beetles, and they are way cooler than a spider any day," Wheeler said.

For his 45th birthday May 13, Colbert was sent a framed print of Agaporomorphus colberti along with a card showing a beetle scaling a cupcake, Wheeler said.

In 2005, Wheeler and biologist Kelly Miller, of the University of New Mexico, named three North American beetles after then President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld - Agathidium bushi, A. cheneyi and A. rumsfeldi.