A Canadian researcher has discovered a new species of moth native to California and has named it after Donald Trump.
The moth has yellowish flakes that cover its head which the researcher likened to the hairdo of the president-elect, hence the name of the new species: Neopalpa donaldtrumpi.
The moth, which measures just over a centimetre wide is described for the first time by evolutionary biologist Vazrick Nazari in the latest edition of the journal Zookeys, after being discovered hidden in the collections of the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, The Telegraph reports.
So I named a species after @realDonaldTrump. Maybe now he'll make conservation of fragile US ecosystems a priority?https://t.co/jetz83AHaC
— Vazrick Nazari (@vazrick) January 17, 2017
Mr Nazari hopes that by naming the species after Mr Trump “he’ll make conservation of fragile US ecosystems a priority.”
Mr Nazari says there is a great need for further conservation in fragile areas such as the habitat of the new species which is under serious threat from urbanisation.
The same journal last month published findings of a new species of fish native to the Papahanaumokuake Marine National Monument in Hawaii, the largest such protected area in the world. The fish is named for the president who created the monument: Tosanoides obama.
Additional reporting Bloomberg