Neopalpa donaldtrumpi: The Blonde Moth

Dr. Vazrick Nazari, an evolutionary biologist from the University of California has named a newly discovered moth species in honour of Donald Trump. Dr. Nazari states the moth truly justifies its name due to yellowish white scales on its head.

Neopalpa donaldtrumpi lives in a habitat that is widely urbanised with a dense population, and is said to be a sub-species under serious threat. The newly discovered moth, displaying significant morphological differences from the other Neopalpa moth described in 1998 by Czech entomologist Dalibor Povolný, is a member of a large habitat extending from California to Mexico. “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 contain undescribed and threatened species, and highlights the paucity of interest in species-level taxonomy of smaller faunal elements in North America,” said Dr. Nazari.

Donald Trump is not the first USA president to be honoured by scientists with a species name. Barack Obama’s name was also given to a recently discovered fish species.