Scientists have named a new group of butterflies after the villain Sauron from the Lord of the Rings novels, the BBC reports.
The name, Saurona, was chosen because the black rings on the insect’s orange wings put them in mind of the all-seeing eye described in JRR Tolkien’s books. The villain’s glowing eye has also been referenced in the names of a dung beetle, a frog, and a dinosaur.
The name was picked by Dr Blanca Heurtas, curator of the butterflies at the Natural History Museum in London, who is part of an international team who described the new genus in a paper published in the scientific journal Systematic Entomology.
A group of 30 scientists from around the world have spent a decade studying the butterfly subtribe Euptychiina. They analysed more than 400 different species of butterfly, and used advances in DNA to identify the differences between them at a genetic level, as well as by their appearance.
The museum hopes the unusual newly created title will draw attention to the species and help generate more research.
According to the BBC, two species of butterfly have been added to the newly named Saurona genus. Saurona triangular and Saurona aurigera are the inaugural members of the group. More are expected to be added.
Image by Wolfgang Orthgieß from Pixabay