Most people are happy to have anything named after them, but for Dunedin entomologist Anthony Harris that has happened three times.
Mr Harris has now had his name lent to three native insects after a new species of wasp was named after him, joining a butterfly and an extremely rare stiletto fly.
Hymenopterist Darren Ward named the wasp Apenesia harrisi after Mr Harris because of the work he had done in studying native wasp species.
''It's a form of immortality because the name will live on long after you have gone,'' Mr Harris said.
Unlike the common and European wasp species which most people were familiar with, the native species did not live in social groups and could be difficult to find, Mr Harris said. His fascination with insects started when he was young and his life has been dedicated to the study of them.
He has published more than 140 studies on different types of insects.
''The beauty of their form is what attracts me to them ... When I was young, I was very interested in beetles and their shape and form - they are quite exquisite,'' he said.
As well as publishing studies, Mr Harris is an honorary curator of entomology at the Otago Museum and makes hundreds of identifications of insects found by the public.
''Sometimes people will find rare species without even knowing about it,'' he said.
People brought them to him and sometimes the insects were a surprise, Mr Harris said.
- by Tim Miller
