A scientist named an iridescent rainbow fly after 'RuPaul's Drag Race' host RuPaul Charles

• A scientist in Australia named a shiny rainbow fly after TV show host RuPaul.
• The rare, iridescent soldier fly was named Opaluma rupaul after the star of "RuPaul's Drag Race."
• "Rainbow colors and legs for days," RuPaul wrote on Twitter in response to the news.

A scientist in Australia has named a shimmering, iridescent soldier fly after "RuPaul's Drag Race" host RuPaul Charles.

Dr. Bryan Lessard, a researcher in Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), said he wanted to give the insect a fabulous name to attract the attention of citizen scientists and policy-makers in the hope that people will pay attention to protecting these rare insects.

The fly is called Opaluma rupaul, and is part of a new Australian genus Opaluma, a term derived from the Latin words for "opal" and "thorn."

"Many of the thirteen new soldier flies I named are from areas impacted by the Black Summer bushfires," Lessard said in a statement released by CSIRO on September 15.

"Two of these, Opaluma opulens and Antissella puprasina, have now been recognized as endangered species under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List and are known only from Lamington National Park in Queensland, an area that was significantly burned in the bushfires," Lessard said. He added that soldier flies are important pollinators in the Australian ecosystem.

In an interview with CNN, Lessard said there were personal reasons behind the decision, too.

"I'd been watching a lot of 'RuPaul's Drag Race' when I was examining the specimen under the microscope, so it was on my mind," Lessard told CNN.

"As a gay scientist, it took me a long time to feel comfortable in my own skin in a very traditional field of science, in entomology," Lessard said. "I think it's really important for the next generation of LGBTQ scientists to know that they're being represented in the workplace, as we give the names of legends in the community to memorable species."

In a tweet on September 15, RuPaul acknowledged his new namesake. The show host posted two side-by-side photos of himself and the fly, writing, "Rainbow colors and legs for days."

According to The Guardian, this is the 50th insect species Lessard has named. In 2012, he also named a horse fly Scaptia beyonceae, in a tribute to singer Beyoncé.