A researcher said she named a new butterfly species after the 'Lord of the Rings' villain partly because spending 10 years on the study felt like the eye of Sauron looking at her

Fri, 05/12/2023 - 13:16

A picture of one of the Saurona butterflies. — The museum says the black rings on the vivid orange wings are "reminiscent of the all-seeing Eye."
B. Huertas (c) Trustees Natural History Museum

Two newly-discovered butterfly species were named after Sauron, the "The Lord of the Rings" villain.
Blanca Huertas said she was inspired by the butterfly's wing patterns and her decade-long research.
She told The Washington Post there were parallels between Tolkien's novels and species conservation.

J.R.R. Tolkien's magical "The Lord of the Rings" universe includes hobbits, elves, wizards, and now, a new genus of butterflies called Saurona after the dark lord Sauron.

"Naming a genus is not something that happens very often," said Blanca Huertas, a senior curator of butterflies at the Natural History Museum in London, in a release from the museum that announced the new name on Sunday.