In recent environmental news, a new species of moth has been discovered.
The Neopalpa donaldtrumpi was discovered by Vazrick Nazari, an evolutionary biologist.
This moth was appropriately named, as Mr. Trump’s wafting flop of blond hair is apparently quite reminiscent of the Neopalpa donaldtrumpi.
This moth has yellow and white scales on the top of its head, which do, in fact, make the moth appear to have platinum blonde locks.
The resemblance doesn’t end there. The moth’s beady black eyes also look to be scowling with particular anger and grouchiness. If you take a look at photos of this moth and of Donald Trump, you will see a similar theme of dour and stern expressions.
This moth is miniscule, with its body and wingspan measuring up at only 0.4 inches. It has a white body with brown wings. Neopalpa donaldtrumpi lives anywhere ranging from Southern California to Baja California.
An article on Livescience.com subtlety points out that Trump’s proposed Wall would draw a divide in this geographical area.
Vazrick Nazari is a researcher from Ottawa, Canada. He was working at the Bohart Museum of Entomology in California, specifically researching twirler moths (in the Gelechiidae family, and that habitually twirl when disrupted) when he discovered this miniature Mr. Trump.
Nazari reported that "Its distinctive wing pattern and its unique DNA bar code immediately flagged it as a new and undescribed species." It has also got some unique “pouch-like structures.”
The Neopalpa donaldtrumpi is only the second moth discovered in the Neopalpa genus, though there are 4830 described species in the family, and possibly as many as “10,000 species in that family worldwide.”
There’s been a few other species named after Donald Trump, such as the “Trumpapillar,” a caterpillar, and the “Tetragramma donaldtrumpi,” a Sea Urchin.
Naming species after Presidents and public figures has been a popular trend in recent years.
Vazrick Nazari, in naming this moth, was hoping to inspire conservation policy and action through biodiversity awareness. "These ecosystems still contain many undiscovered and undescribed species,” reported Nazari, “and [they] deserve to be protected for future generations."
In a relevant tweet, Nazari wrote, “So I named a species after @realDonaldTrump". Maybe now he'll make conservation of fragile US ecosystems a priority?”
While whether or not this news will reach Donald Trump remains to be seen, and despite the fact that he seems highly unlikely to take action to protect the environment at all, the intent is good. I, for one, would love to see Donald Trump take inspiration from his fellow-named Moth and create some policy to protect our world’s much needed ecosystems and biodiversity.
