web analytics
Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content

About Open Science

(All that comes with it, (but not by itself)

About Open Science

Main menu

  • Home
  • Open Science at UMCG & RUG
  • Open Science Community Groningen
  • Data
  • About

Category Archives: taxonomy

Poll the Audience: Crowd-sourcing the Name of a New Species of Wasp

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Alex Theg

A scientifically literate society is one that can make educated, informed decisions based on the best available evidence.  While much of the public harbors a basic interest in science and education, there is still a need to increase and improve efforts to educate and engage with the public about science. In one such effort to strengthen the public’s connection to science, researchers with the Museum für Naturkunde (Natural History Museum) in Berlin encouraged museum visitors to participate in the naming of a new species of wasp found in Thailand. This call was met with keen interest, and the researchers shared their experience with us in a recently published PLOS ONE paper.

Wasp

This previously undescribed red and black wasp belongs to a group of ant-mimicking cockroach hunters with extraordinary predation techniques. When one of these wasps finds a cockroach that looks tasty, the wasp stings it, stopping the cockroach’s normal escape response without paralyzing its legs, and leaving it in a surprisingly cooperative, docile state. The wasp then leads the complacent cockroach by one antenna back to a location of its choosing, often where it has lain eggs. The cockroach willingly marches to its doom, saving the wasp a lot of heavy lifting. At their final destination, the cockroach becomes a hearty meal that the wasp enjoys from the comfort of home.

With all of this information about the wasp in hand, as well as access to information about taxonomy rules and principles, visitors were given ballots with four potential wasp names from which to choose (no write-ins, as species names need to follow certain conventions):

  • Ampulex bicolor, for its red and black coloring.
  • Ampulex mon, a reference to the ethnic Mon people of Thailand that live in the region where the wasp was discovered.
  • Ampulex dementor, inspired by the Dementors in Harry Potter that consume their victim’s souls, leaving them will-less.
  • Ampulex plagiator, a reference to plagiarism, which reflects the wasp’s ant-mimicry (and was a shout-out to current events at the time).

Wasp closeups Over 90% of the 300 ballots given out were returned, and the winning name was Ampulex dementor. Apart from formally describing a new species, the authors of the paper note that the naming activity was well-received and seemed to be an appropriate way to educate the public about taxonomic work and the process of classification of species. At least initially, crowd-sourcing may seem more appealing and democratic to the public than some of the other ways to go about naming species:

  • Naming species after the research funders, although that is good politics.
  • Auctioning naming rights to the highest bidder. The authors note that internet casino Goldenpalace.com named a monkey the GoldenPalace.com Monkey.
  • Naming new species after members of a royal family.
  • Referencing your favorite movies, which leads to beetles named after Arnold Schwarzenegger (Agra schwarzeneggeri) and Darth Vader (Agathidium vaderi), although in fairness the namer claims to have exhausted all other useful descriptive names.
  • Contacting myself, Alex Theg, for ideas, which is guaranteed to result in bad puns.

Related links:

Sexy Faces in a Male Paper Wasp

Ant-Mimicking Spider Relies on a “Double-Deception” Strategy to Fool Different Audiences

Scientists Popularizing Science: Characteristics and Impact of TED Talk Presenters

How Academic Biologists and Physicists View Science Outreach

Citation: Ohl M, Lohrmann V, Breitkreuz L, Kirschey L, Krause S (2014) The Soul-Sucking Wasp by Popular Acclaim – Museum Visitor Participation in Biodiversity Discovery and Taxonomy. PLoS ONE 9(4): e95068. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0095068

Images: Images are from Figures 1 and 2 of the published paper

The post Poll the Audience: Crowd-sourcing the Name of a New Species of Wasp appeared first on EveryONE.

Posted in Aggregators, Fun, Images, Media, new species, openaccess, public engagement, science communication, taxonomy, Wasps

Search for news

Why should I read this?

Because you are interested in Open Science & Open Access, and need to know how it affects your research (at UMCG). This blog is the largest aggregated news site about Open Science and shows you the latest local, national & international news on Open Science. Contact me for additions/comments: Guus van den Brekel, CMB UMCG

#OPENSCIENCE

#openscience

hcp4715Hu Chuan-Peng | @hcp4715@mastodon.online@hcp4715·
3h

A nice piece about #openscience
" Science is an integral part of culture, deeply anchored in local cultural heritage across the world, and education has its role to play in rediscovering these connections. "

Twitter 1640172256302182400
geo_domodomo@geo_domo·
3h

#culturalibre #openscience
#InternetArchive

Twitter 1640160522208178176
eglereanEnrico Glerean@eglerean·
5h

I've started a blog in 2023! 🤩https://eglerean.substack.com/ I have already about 15 articles drafted and will do my best to finish + publish one every week. PS: It's also a mailing list, so please subscribe. #Ethics #law #Science #responsibleResearch #openscience #phd_chat

Twitter 1640131083801960448
Load More...

Dutch Open Science News Alerts

Team Regieorgaan Open Science stelt zich voor - NWO
Nederlandse universiteiten dalen op vrijwel alle domeinen in de QS ... - ScienceGuide
De energierevolutie die verdampte: staat de natuurkunde aan de ... - Volkskrant
Wetenschappers willen hun band met het publiek versterken - Advalvas-VU
Zes onderzoeksprojecten van start over zorg in de eigen ... - NWO
De trein van Erkennen en Waarderen gaat verder - ScienceGuide
Gezuiverd restwater voor de landbouw - NWO

Contributors

  • Comments on: Open Science Community Amsterdam
  • “OA.OPEN_SCIENCE in Open Access Tracking Project (OATP)
  • #OA.POLICIES in Open Access Tracking Project (OATP)
  • BMJ Open Science current issue
  • EveryONE PLOS Blog
  • GenR
  • Leibniz Research Alliance Open Science
  • Make Data Count
  • News on Open Science Community Rotterdam
  • OATP primary
  • Open Access actueel
  • Open Science Blog (UoG Library)
  • Open Science Community Groningen
  • Open Science Community Utrecht
  • Open Science Leiden News
  • Open Science Maastricht
  • Open Science Nijmegen
  • Open Science Talk
  • Open Science Talk (Podcast)
  • Open Science Twente
  • openingscience.org
  • Peter Suber’s bookmarks
  • Publish Open Access
  • Replicability-Index
  • Right to Research Coalition – Full Feed
  • SHERPA Services Blog
  • SPARC Europe
  • The 20% Statistician
  • The Imaginary Journal of Poetic Economics
  • The Journal of Electronic Publishing
  • The OpenScience Project
  • The Scholarly Kitchen
  • ZBW MediaTalk

Open Access Links

  • Open Access at UMCG
  • Open Access at UoG Library
  • Open Access Now
  • OPENACCESS.NL

Open Science Links

  • Dutch Open Science News Alert
  • National Program Open Science (NL)
  • Open Research Calendar
  • Open Science Blog UoG Library & CMB UMCG
  • Open Science Reddit
  • Open Science Talk (Podcast)
  • SPARC EUROPE
  • The OpenScience Project
  • The Scholarly Kitchen

Archives

  • March 2023 (375)
  • February 2023 (411)
  • January 2023 (447)
  • December 2022 (382)
  • November 2022 (364)
  • October 2022 (357)
  • September 2022 (263)
  • August 2022 (340)
  • July 2022 (269)
  • June 2022 (370)
  • May 2022 (378)
  • April 2022 (340)
  • March 2022 (444)
  • February 2022 (419)
  • January 2022 (414)
  • December 2021 (313)
  • November 2021 (433)
  • October 2021 (359)
  • September 2021 (292)
  • August 2021 (419)
  • July 2021 (411)
  • June 2021 (402)
  • May 2021 (303)
  • April 2021 (299)
  • March 2021 (358)
  • February 2021 (307)
  • January 2021 (359)
  • December 2020 (283)
  • November 2020 (312)
  • October 2020 (504)
  • September 2020 (264)
  • August 2020 (314)
  • July 2020 (407)
  • June 2020 (332)
  • May 2020 (397)
  • April 2020 (396)
  • March 2020 (368)
  • February 2020 (219)
  • January 2020 (325)
  • December 2019 (253)
  • November 2019 (284)
  • October 2019 (407)
  • September 2019 (253)
  • August 2019 (205)
  • July 2019 (198)
  • June 2019 (258)
  • May 2019 (266)
  • April 2019 (204)
  • March 2019 (238)
  • February 2019 (243)
  • January 2019 (227)
  • December 2018 (187)
  • November 2018 (158)
  • October 2018 (250)
  • September 2018 (156)
  • August 2018 (82)
  • July 2018 (77)
  • June 2018 (85)
  • May 2018 (145)
  • April 2018 (124)
  • March 2018 (72)
  • February 2018 (100)
  • January 2018 (137)
  • December 2017 (127)
  • November 2017 (116)
  • October 2017 (197)
  • September 2017 (141)
  • August 2017 (164)
  • July 2017 (126)
  • June 2017 (172)
  • May 2017 (128)
  • April 2017 (101)
  • March 2017 (162)
  • February 2017 (127)
  • January 2017 (117)
  • December 2016 (133)
  • November 2016 (106)
  • October 2016 (191)
  • September 2016 (93)
  • August 2016 (69)
  • July 2016 (98)
  • June 2016 (61)
  • May 2016 (105)
  • April 2016 (93)
  • March 2016 (77)
  • February 2016 (73)
  • January 2016 (72)
  • December 2015 (104)
  • November 2015 (94)
  • October 2015 (87)
  • September 2015 (88)
  • August 2015 (62)
  • July 2015 (78)
  • June 2015 (52)
  • May 2015 (71)
  • April 2015 (61)
  • March 2015 (52)
  • February 2015 (84)
  • January 2015 (80)
  • December 2014 (68)
  • November 2014 (82)
  • October 2014 (122)
  • September 2014 (77)
  • August 2014 (83)
  • July 2014 (92)
  • June 2014 (80)
  • May 2014 (92)
  • April 2014 (96)
  • March 2014 (113)
  • February 2014 (43)
  • January 2014 (39)
  • December 2013 (52)
  • November 2013 (68)
  • October 2013 (152)
  • September 2013 (80)
  • August 2013 (78)
  • July 2013 (68)
  • June 2013 (45)
  • May 2013 (69)
  • April 2013 (56)
  • March 2013 (82)
  • February 2013 (87)
  • January 2013 (50)
  • December 2012 (43)
  • November 2012 (86)
  • October 2012 (151)
  • September 2012 (84)
  • August 2012 (53)
  • July 2012 (63)
  • June 2012 (58)
  • May 2012 (64)
  • April 2012 (37)
  • March 2012 (72)
  • February 2012 (45)
  • January 2012 (78)
  • December 2011 (56)
  • November 2011 (90)
  • October 2011 (134)
  • September 2011 (73)
  • August 2011 (32)
  • July 2011 (79)
  • June 2011 (153)
  • May 2011 (133)
  • April 2011 (49)
  • March 2011 (164)
  • February 2011 (44)
  • January 2011 (113)
  • December 2010 (60)
  • November 2010 (4)
  • October 2010 (8)
  • September 2010 (33)
  • August 2010 (22)
  • July 2010 (65)
  • June 2010 (45)
  • May 2010 (63)
  • April 2010 (56)
  • March 2010 (79)
  • February 2010 (103)
  • January 2010 (153)
  • December 2009 (151)
  • November 2009 (172)
  • October 2009 (168)
  • September 2009 (180)
  • August 2009 (148)
  • July 2009 (133)
  • June 2009 (373)
  • May 2009 (404)
  • April 2009 (400)
  • March 2009 (529)
  • February 2009 (512)
  • January 2009 (931)
  • December 2008 (536)
  • November 2008 (448)
  • October 2008 (436)
  • September 2008 (311)
  • August 2008 (197)
  • July 2008 (205)
  • June 2008 (31)
  • May 2008 (13)
  • April 2008 (83)
  • March 2008 (1)
  • February 2008 (3)
  • January 2008 (17)
  • December 2007 (3)
  • November 2007 (30)
  • October 2007 (1)
  • September 2007 (2)
  • July 2007 (2)
  • June 2007 (2)
  • May 2007 (4)
  • April 2007 (1)
  • March 2007 (3)
  • February 2007 (1)
  • January 2007 (2)
  • December 2006 (1)
  • November 2006 (2)
  • October 2006 (2)
  • September 2006 (3)
  • June 2006 (3)
  • November 2005 (2)
  • December 1997 (1)
  • September 1997 (1)
  • January 1970 (28)

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Tags

  • 101
  • authors
  • citation
  • definition
  • editorial best practice
  • editors
  • explained
  • glossary
  • humanities
  • introductions
  • jargon
  • meaning
  • news
  • oa
  • obama
  • od
  • oe
  • oer
  • readership
  • research
  • Wiley Online Library
Proudly powered by WordPress