Quick Summary
- 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis collected the tiny moth during BLM-funded expedition in Southern California鈥檚 Imperial Sands Dunes
- Canadian scientist identifies the new species in material he borrowed from our Bohart Museum of Entomology
- He says the moth has presidential hair and hopes the name will draw attention to the need for habitat conservation
This Donald Trump isn鈥檛 moving into the White House; he鈥檚 coming back to 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis! We鈥檙e talking about Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, a tiny moth that some people say has hair like the new president鈥檚.
Needless to say, this newly discovered species is making headlines around the world and the internet.
The first specimens to be identified came from 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis鈥 . Well, they really came from Southern California鈥檚 Imperial Sand Dunes (also known as the Algodone Dunes). But a 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis expedition collected them there and brought them back to the museum.
Professor Lynn Kimsey, the museum鈥檚 director, led that expedition, which she described as 鈥渁 very intensive survey of the Algodones 鈥 that we did on contract with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management starting in 2007.鈥
Recently, the moths made their way to Vazrick Nazari of Canada鈥檚 national entomology collection, and he discovered them to be a species all their own 鈥 one that had never been identified. The seven moths came to him as part of a loan of 319 specimens he obtained from the Bohart in 2014.
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With a collection of more than 7 million specimens, seventh largest in North America, the 70-year-old Bohart serves as a lending library for the national and international entomology research communities. 鈥淐ollections like ours pretty much all do this,鈥 Kimsey said. 鈥淭here are so many different kinds of insects that no community can possibly have specialists in more than a very few insect groups.鈥
Nazari included his N. donaldtrumpi discovery in a posted to the Pensoft Publishers鈥 ZooKeys open-access journal on Jan. 17. Pensoft put out a the same day, describing how the scientist, while going through the material he had borrowed from the Bohart, 鈥渟tumbled across a few specimens that did not match any previously known species.鈥
What Do You Think?
Vazrick Nazari also pointed out the yellowish-white scales on the adult moth鈥檚 head, saying the scales resembled Trump鈥檚 hairstyle 鈥 something the Pensoft news releases refers to as 鈥渁n amusing reference.鈥 What do you think? Resemblance ... or not?
鈥淔ollowing thorough analysis of these moths, as well as material from other institutions, the scientist confirmed he had discovered the second species of a genus of twirler moths,鈥 the news release stated. In his research report, Nazari cited a unique genitalia and wing pattern in what he would subsequently name Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, and he noted that DNA testing further supported his discovery of the new species.
Kimsey said the specimen with the 鈥渂ad comb-over鈥 had not been returned 鈥 but it will be. 鈥淲e鈥檒l probably put up a display for ,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e hadn't really planned to put the specimen out, as it鈥檚 pretty hard to see.
鈥淭o be honest, it鈥檚 not much to look at with a wingspan of just under a centimeter. We鈥檒l definitely post some photos.鈥
Nazari said he named the moth in honor of Trump, and that the 鈥渉air style鈥 was only part of his reasoning. The scientist said he also hoped the name 鈥 and corresponding fame 鈥 would 鈥渂ring wider public attention to the need to continue protecting fragile habitats in the U.S. that still contain many undescribed species.鈥
Bohart Open Houses
- Sunday, Jan. 22 鈥 鈥淧arasite Palooza: Botflies, Fleas and Mites, Oh, My.鈥 1-4 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 18 鈥 The Bohart will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. as part of .
- Sunday, March 19 鈥 鈥淓gg to Wings: Backyard Butterfly Gardening.鈥 1-4 p.m.
- Saturday, April 22 鈥 The Bohart will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. as part of .
The museum is in 1224 . Regular hours: 9 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Admission is free.
Kimsey said: 鈥淚'm not sure whether or not this will get folks to be more conservation-minded given the current political atmosphere. People don't generally view desert lands as valuable.鈥
She does, most certainly, saying about the Algodones, where the Bohart collected its N. donaldtrumpi specimens: 鈥淭his turns out to be a very unusual habitat with about 2,000 different kinds of insects, 6 percent of which are new to science.鈥
And, about deserts overall: 鈥淭hey are really quite unusual habitats with the potential to yield genes and biochemicals of great industrial and medical value.鈥
We鈥檙e not sure, either, if the public is paying attention to Nazari鈥檚 conservation appeal, but we know the story of the Donald Trump moth is getting massive attention in the media. Here are some of the headlines:
- 鈥 The Christian Science Monitor
- 鈥 Bloomberg
- 鈥 The Washington Post
- 鈥 The Telegraph (London)
- 鈥 Time
Media Resources
Dave Jones, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu