[Iwonda (OP)]

If someone discovers some lifeforms that are completely new to science, do they get to name them? If a lifeform is an unknown species and also an unknown genus, do a genus have to be assigned before they can be given a name?

[Halc]

The person who first describes the new species in a scientific publication is typically the one that assigns its formal name. This goes for something like new genus as well.  Often this is the same person/organization that first discovers the new thing, but not always.

I'm looking at the tardigrade, first described by Goeze (a German pastor) but was only named 3 years later in a publication by an Italian biologist Spallanzani, a name that means 'slow stepper'.  Perhaps the more informal name of 'water bear' came from the German guy, but somehow I doubt it.

[alancalverd]

Genus is preferably descriptive and a "graeco-latin" plural, so a seven-legged genus could be named, say, heptoskelia, with the species customarily named for the discoverer calverdii

[Iwonda (OP)]

Thanks for the reply, guys. I have come across a number of specimens that appear to be new but I'm no scientist so I would maybe only like to name two of the insects. So, I guess I will be having to find an entomologist that is willing to describe these specimens in a publication. I don't know anything about Latin names so I will just have to leave that up to the scientist. Thanks for the good info . 

[neilep]

Well done on on discovering hopefully new insects. I like the names Eric and Doris :-) 

[Iwonda (OP)]

There could be more than two here, so I'll keep Eric and Doris in mind too  . Have a collection of insects, plants and marine organisms that are in a state of perseveration that no one can explain, some can be identified, and some scientists don't have a clue as to what they are. I am blown away at how many unknowns there are, I keep telling myself it's just a matter of contacting the right person.