Taylor Swift Is Now a Bug: Australian Insects Named After Pop Megastar - Tempo.co English
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Billionaire singer-songwriter and pop megastar Taylor Swift is now the namesake of four newly discovered species of plant-feeding insects from Australia.
This rare honor was announced on Wednesday, September 9, under a new study published in the Insect Systematics and Evolution journal. According to Variety, the paper described 12 new species, with one genus named "Swiftiephylus" in honor of Taylor Swift.
The genus name combines "Swiftie," the name of Swift's fanbase, with "Phylus," a common name for this group of insects. Meanwhile, the four species are named after Swift herself and several of her albums: Swiftiephylus taylorae (named after Taylor), Swiftiephylus amator (Swift's 2019 album Lover), Swiftiephylus intrepidus (the 2008 album Fearless), and Swiftiephylus poetorum (Swift's 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department).
Sarah Schroeder, UC Riverside entomology doctoral student and co-author of the study, hoped the namesake would bring more attention to insect conservation. "It felt authentic to me as a lifelong Swiftie to honor Taylor in this way, as well as bring attention to the diversity of insects that has yet to be discovered," Schroeder said, as quoted from People.
The Swift bugs, Schroeder said, received their names due to their coloration—pale yellow with accents of red. Described as "blonde" in the paper, Schroeder believed the colorings help the insects camouflage themselves among she-oak flowers, which feature similar red-orange colors.
"Taylor Swift’s iconic look is her blonde hair and red lips," the researcher said, while describing why she named the insects after the Grammy-winning artist.
According to the paper, the namesake also honors Swift's "show-stopping talent, heart-wrenching lyrics, and the joy and comfort" she has brought to fans.
The new insects “are not known to be pests to either humans or animals,” according to UC Riverside. They belong to the largest family of true bugs, Miridae, with more than 11,000 described species worldwide.
In conducting the study, Schroeder, alongside professor Christiane Weirauch, examined 593 specimens collected across Australia between 1995 and 2004 by researchers from the American Museum of Natural History. At the time, the collecting efforts yielded over 50,000 specimens, many of which required years of taxonomic work to sort, study, and describe. Scientists believe nearly 30 million insects remain undocumented, which highlights the importance of taxonomy.
“Taxonomy is the cornerstone of conservation,” Schroeder said. “If we don’t describe species, we don’t know they exist and can’t conserve them. Honoring Taylor through naming these species after her is a way to honor conservation science and bring attention to all the unknown diversity.”
