How could we have missed this (from last January)?
Until this week, the genus Neopalpa consisted of a single species of moth, Neopalpa neonata, about which virtually nothing is known beyond its underwhelming appearance. The size of a thumbnail, with dark, mottled wings folded straight back, N. neonata could be mistaken for a dishevelled roach or a tiny, moth-eaten butterfly. [snip]
...Vazrick Nazari, an entomologist and evolutionary biologist in Ottawa, reported that, on closer inspection, the one Neonata species is actually two that are closely related. This sort of announcement wouldn’t normally attract attention—taxonomists are making such fine-tooth discoveries all the time—except that Nazari chose to name the new species Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, for the distinctive wave of yellowish-white scales that cascades forward from the moth’s head. “It was in these scales that the author found an amusing reference to Mr. Trump’s hairstyle,” Nazari wrote in a press release. The news quickly echoed through social media, and Twitterers struggled to decide which detail was ripest for metaphor—that the moth is Mexican-American; that it’s distinct from its cousin in part by dint of its especially small genitalia; or that, like all moths, it has a habit of aiming directly for the flame. (our emphasis)"Disheveled roach," check. "Distinctive" hairstyle, check. Especially small genitalia, check. Aims directly for the flame, check. Well played, Dr. Nazari! And all this was before the ugly, small bore reality of Rump as "President" and the shitshow that's transpired in the past 9 months!
Well, here are some pictures of the little feller (the moth, not Rump), so you can see the likeness for yourself:
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| (Vazrick Nazari, ZooKeys) |
The fact that it's found on the Mexican- American border completes the, um, metamorphosis of Nazari's taxonomy into art.
