Aha ha

Not to be confused with Ahaha.

Aha ha is a species of Australian wasp, named by the entomologist Arnold Menke in 1977 as a joke. Menke described several years after its discovery how, when he received a package from a colleague containing insect specimens, he exclaimed "Aha, a new genus", with fellow entomologist Eric Grissell responding "ha" doubtfully.^[2] The name of the insect is commonly found in lists of bizarre scientific names.^[3][4] The name was also used as the vehicle registration plate of Menke's car, "AHA HA".^[5]

Aha ha
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Crabronidae
Genus:	Aha
Species:	A. ha
Binomial name
Aha ha Menke, 1977[1]
A. ha distribution

See also

• List of short species names

References

1. Menke, Arnold S. (1977). "Aha, a new genus of Australian Sphecidae, and revised key to the world genera of the tribe Miscophini (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae, Larrinae)" (PDF). Polskie Pismo Entomologiczne. 47: 671–681. ISSN 0032-3780. OCLC 457011738.
2. Evans, Howard E. (1983). Menke, Arnold S. (ed.). "Tales from the Outback: The Discovery of Aha ha (Sphecidae, Miscophini)" (PDF). Sphecos. 7: 14.
3. Doug Yanega (22 July 2022). "Curious Scientific Names". Retrieved 9 December 2022.
4. Mark Isaak (6 February 2022). "Wordplay: Long and Short Names". Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
5. Arnold S. Menke (1993). "Funny or Curious Zoological Names". Bogus Volumino Negatori Doso: 24–27.