Kosovar biologist names newly discovered insect after coronavirus

Professor Halil Ibrahimi looks under a microscope at an insect named Potamophylax coronavirus inside a lab in Pristina, Kosovo (Visar Kryeziu/AP)

Restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic have helped a Kosovar biologist sit down and complete his research, raise public awareness of the pollution of river basins – and name a new insect after the virus.

Professor Halil Ibrahimi, 44, had spent years working on a research report on a caddisfly species found in Kosovo’s western Bjeshket e Nemuna (Accursed Mountains) national park.