Donald Trump may be about to be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States of America tomorrow, but earlier this week history was made in his name for a very different reason. In a ZooKeys paper published by a Canadian evolutionary biologist Vazrick Nazari on Tuesday, a newly discovered species of moth has been named after the president-elect, but not for the most flattering of reasons.
The Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, as the moth is being called, boasts a head full of yellow and white scales (which you can see in the above CNN video), similar in appearance to Trump’s signature golden coiffure. The moth is also native to Southern California and Northwestern Mexico, right where Trump wants to build his precious, precious wall.
But that’s not the only purported similarity, because according to Nazari the N. donaldtrumpi has genitalia with “certain folds and pouch-like structures” unique to the species that is “comparatively smaller” than the genitalia of the Neopalpa neonata, another closely related moth. So just like Trump (we assume), it’s got flashy head and teeny, tiny penis.
Nazari decided to name the species after Trump in hopes of bringing some attention to fragile ecosystems such as the one where the N. donaldtrumpi resides, telling Live Science: “These ecosystems still contain many undiscovered and undescribed species, and deserve to be protected for future generations.” Given what the GOP plans to do to the endangered species act, this is more important than ever.
This isn’t the first time a species to be named after Trump. In September of 2016 the so-called “Trumpapillar” was given its name thanks to the caterpillar’s luxurious, fluffy tufts of orange hair. Only the best, most huge bugs get named after Donald Trump.
(Via LiveScience, Motherboard)