New Species of Moth Named After President Donald Trump

January 23, 2017 5:00 am
Moth species Neopalpa donaldtrumpi named after Donald Trump (Vazrick Nazari/ZooKeys Handout)
Moth species Neopalpa donaldtrumpi named after Donald Trump (Vazrick Nazari/ZooKeys Handout)
Moth species Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, left, named after Donald Trump, right (Vazrick Nazari/ZooKeys Handout; Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Moth species Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, left, named after Donald Trump, right (Vazrick Nazari/ZooKeys Handout; Alex Wong/Getty Images)

 

One evolutionary biologist is either openly thumbing his nose at President Trump, or honoring the new Commander, by naming a moth after him.

The new species, now known as Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, was discovered by dissecting samples borrowed from the Bohart University of Entomology at the University of California, Davis. You really can’t argue with the fact that the moth kind of looks like the president.

Moth species Neopalpa donaldtrumpi named after Donald Trump (Vazrick Nazari/ZooKeys Handout)
Moth species Neopalpa donaldtrumpi named after Donald Trump (Vazrick Nazari/ZooKeys Handout)
Moth species Neopalpa donaldtrumpi named after Donald Trump (Vazrick Nazari/ZooKeys Handout)
Moth species Neopalpa donaldtrumpi named after Donald Trump (Vazrick Nazari/ZooKeys Handout)
Moth species Neopalpa donaldtrumpi named after Donald Trump (Vazrick Nazari/ZooKeys Handout)
Moth species Neopalpa donaldtrumpi named after Donald Trump (Vazrick Nazari/ZooKeys Handout)

 

That swath of light-yellow scales on its head could be mistaken for Trump’s signature comb-over any day. At the end of the day, it’s not altogether that disrespectful of the science community. After all, researchers named nine new species after Obama.

To read Vazrick’s full study, click here.

RealClearLife Staff

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