Scientist discovers a bee that can make zombies, names it after the Night King

The Night King lives on in the Down Under. What do I mean? According to BBC News, a newly discovered species of bees have been named Paramonovius nightking, in honor of the infamous icy villain. Is this type of bee white with blue eyes? Does it release ice every time it stings?

Not exactly, but the Paramonovius nightking does thrive in the wintertime, and has a “crown of spine-like hairs and turns other insects into ‘zombies,'” according to researchers. A colony of zombie bees that flourishes in the winter?! That doesn’t sound frightening at all.

This particular species was first noticed back in 2012 by a pair of “citizen scientists” in Wandoo National Park. Its existence was later confirmed by PhD student Xuankun Li, working at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. Naturally, Li is a big Game of Thrones fan, and the Night King naturally came to mind.

“The bee fly has many similarities with the Game of Thrones character,” said CSIRO entomologist Dr Bryan Lessard. “[T]hey both are only found in winter and have a crown of thorn-like spines on their head. Female bee flies lay their eggs on other insects, which hatch and eat that insect from the inside out, turning them into walking zombies, just like the real Night King.”

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This isn’t the first time scientists have reached for Game of Thrones when naming new stuff, like when some named a trio of new ants after Daenerys’ dragons. Might there be a new kind of spider named after Varys in the future, or a particularly small beetle named for Tyrion? The possibilities go on and on.

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