Donald Trump may not hold office officially until Friday, but his iconic status, and his equally iconic hair, has earned a new moth namesake.
The moth has been named after Trump due to the white scales (or frons) on its head that resemble the president-elect’s signature hairstyle.
Officially, this new species has been given the name Neopalpa donaldtrumpi.
Vazrick Nazari says the name was inspired not just by Trump’s hairdo, but did so in hopes that it would bring awareness to the fragile ecosystems that exist within the United States–and all of the species that remain undiscovered.
This new moth’s habitat makes its home on the west coast, nestled in Southern California and Baja, Mexico.
It is a subset of a relatively new type of moth, known as the twirler moth, that was discovered in 1998 by Czech entomologist Dalibor Povolný on Santa Catalina Island, California.
They are part of the Neopalpa species, of which there are 4,830 known at the moment, though scientists expect there are more yet to be discovered.
This is the second type of twirler moth to be identified.
The twirler moth has earned its name from buzzing around in circles in a seemingly undisturbed manner.
Nazari discovered the moth while looking through borrowed material from the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California Davis.
After noticing that some of the specimens he was looking at were not the same as other species scientists had previously described, he went on a hunt to identify how they were different.
Sure enough, he found a brand new species, which he was free to name himself.
While Nazari tweeted to Trump about the new species named in his honor, he has yet to hear back from him.
When Trump does find out, Nazari said he hopes he’ll react positively, as it was intended both in a good natured tone and to bring awareness to the importance of the government helping maintain ecosystems within its borders.
Nazari says that the tactic of naming new species after a famous person or character is not new and helps bring public awareness to the newly identified animal or plant species.
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