Zyzzyva
Encyclopedia
Zyzzyva is a genus
of tropical American weevil
often found in association with palm
s. It is a snouted beetle. "Zyzzyva" is the last word in many English-language dictionaries
.
The yellowish weevil is no longer than an ant. It was first discovered in 1922 in Brazil
, and named by a Irishman Thomas Lincoln Casey, Jr. An entomologist at New York's Museum of Natural History thought that, because there was not a Latin name or Brazilian name associated with this weevil, it was probably named Zyzzyva as a practical joke to place it in a prominent ending position in many guides and manuals.
Thomas Casey describes "Zyzzyva Ochreotecta" in his book Memoirs on the Coleoptera, Volume 10:
He collected only one specimen.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of tropical American weevil
Weevil
A weevil is any beetle from the Curculionoidea superfamily. They are usually small, less than , and herbivorous. There are over 60,000 species in several families, mostly in the family Curculionidae...
often found in association with palm
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
s. It is a snouted beetle. "Zyzzyva" is the last word in many English-language dictionaries
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
.
The yellowish weevil is no longer than an ant. It was first discovered in 1922 in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, and named by a Irishman Thomas Lincoln Casey, Jr. An entomologist at New York's Museum of Natural History thought that, because there was not a Latin name or Brazilian name associated with this weevil, it was probably named Zyzzyva as a practical joke to place it in a prominent ending position in many guides and manuals.
Thomas Casey describes "Zyzzyva Ochreotecta" in his book Memoirs on the Coleoptera, Volume 10:
He collected only one specimen.
See also
- AaabaAaabaAaaba is a genus of beetles from the Buprestidae family. It inhabits 3 locations along the east coast of Australia. It has been described by both Bellamy in 2002 and de Laubenfels in 1936...
- AaadontaAaadontaAaadonta is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Endodontidae. Specimens from this genus have been found in Palau and America.- Species :Species in the genus Aaadonta include:...
- Andrew Vollmer
- Zyzzyxdonta alataZyzzyxdonta alataZyzzyxdonta alata is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Endodontidae.This is the only species in the genus Zyzzyxdonta. The genus was named Zyzzyxdonta because it has many features that are the opposite to the genus Aaadonta...
- ZyzzyzusZyzzyzusZyzzyzus is a small genus of marine tubulariid hydrozoans.-Species:*Zyzzyzus floridanus Petersen, 1990*Zyzzyzus robustus Petersen, 1990*Zyzzyzus spongicolus *Zyzzyzus warreni Calder, 1988...