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Newly discovered insect species with ‘wacky fashion sense’ named after Lady Gaga

Scientists hope the ‘K. gaga’ insect will be a good ‘spokesbug’

Annie Lord
Wednesday 11 March 2020 10:26 GMT
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Billie Eilish reacts to Lady Gaga's meat dress

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A newly discovered insect species has been named after Lady Gaga, after it’s “wacky fashion sense” led to comparisons with the singer.

University of Illinois PhD candidate, Brendan Morris, was observing 1,000 treehoppers for his research project when he discovered one female bug with unconventional features that distinguished her from other insects.

Morris named the insect the “Kikaia gaga” (or K. gaga for short) in an effort to bring more awareness to the insect group. Speaking to Illinois News Bureau, he said: “If there is going to be a Lady Gaga bug, it’s going to be a treehopper because they’ve got these crazy horns”.

“They have this wacky fashion sense about them. They’re unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.”

Morris now hopes to visit Nicaragua where the species was first collected in the hopes of finding other K. gaga.

“Treehoppers are wacky, and I think that makes them especially suited to be ‘spokesbugs’ for the wide range of habitats they use,” he explained.

After releasing her new single “Stupid Love“, Gaga — real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta — recently confirmed that her highly anticipated sixth album Chromatica will arrive on April 10.

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