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Now, a moth named after US President-elect Donald Trump

News Agencies | Updated on: 11 February 2017, 5:46 IST

To encourage the conservation in the fragile areas, scientists have named a new moth 'Neopalpa donaldtrumpi' in the honour of US President-elect Donald Trump.

Biologist Dr. Vazrick Nazari from University of California named the moth officially as 'Neopalpa donaldtrumpi' because it stands out with yellowish-white scales present on the head in adults and in these scales he found an amusing reference to Trump's hairstyle and turned it into an additional justification for its name.

The study, published in the open access journal ZooKeys, hopes that the fame around the new moth will successfully point to the critical need for further conservation efforts in the fragile areas such as the habitat of the new species.

"The discovery of this distinct micro-moth in the densely populated and otherwise zoologically well-studied southern California underscores the importance of conservation of the fragile habitats that still contains undescribed and threatened species and highlights the paucity of interest in species-level taxonomy of smaller faunal elements in North America," said Nazari.

Following a thorough analysis of these moths as well as material from other institutions, they confirmed he had discovered the second species of a genus of twirler moths.

Being a substantially urbanised and populated area, the habitat of N donaldtrumpi is also under serious threat.

"By naming these species after the 45th President of the United States, I hope to bring some public attention and interest in the importance of alpha-taxonomy in better understanding the neglected micro-fauna component of the North American biodiversity," Nazari added.

Donald Trump's flying namesake is announced only a month following the recently described species of basslet named after predecessor president Barack Obama, also published in ZooKeys.

The fish is only known from coral reefs in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, Northwestern Hawaii, a nature reserve which the 44th President of the United States of America expanded to become the largest protected marine area in the world.

-ANI

First published: 18 January 2017, 1:56 IST