Visitors back then chose between these names:
- Ampulex bicolor. In Latin, bi means two, and this name refers to the wasp's distinctive black and red coloring.
- Ampulex mon. The Mon people are one of the earliest known groups in Thailand. This name was suggested because the wasp is from Thailand.
- Ampulex dementor. Dementors are fictional characters that appeared in the Harry Potter books. Dementors are magical beings which can consume a person's soul, leaving their victims as empty bodies. This was suggested because the wasp selectively paralyzes cockroaches to prey upon them.
- Ampulex plagiator. The wasp tries to imitate ants in the ways that it looks and moves. This name calls on the way the wasp plagiarizes, or copies, ants.
After votes were counted, the wasp was named Ampulex dementor after the Harry Potter characters. This is just one example of how the Long Night of Museums helps to attract the public to the museums of Berlin and gets everyone involved in the exciting work that these institutions are doing.
Why does the community have this tradition?: Back in the mid-1990s, the museums in Berlin came up with this idea along with the city’s marketing department. The whole idea was to get more people interested and into the museums around the city, and it’s been very successful. In 2010 a study was done that showed that a vast majority of Berliners (93%) know about the Lange Nacht der Museen.
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