Taylor Swift has her own bug-iverse: Meet the species named after the pop star

Taylor Swift’s influence has long extended beyond music, but it seems the Swiftie fandom has now found its way into the animal kingdom. While her fanbase is often associated with teenage girls and hopeless romantics, scientists are proving that the love for the pop star knows no demographic. Researchers have been naming newly discovered bugs and species after the singer and her music.

How Taylor Swift became a part of the animal kingdom, one species at a time

A new genus of plant bugs has recently been described by some scientists at the University of California. And guess what they decided to name it? Blending science with a nod to pop culture, researchers gave the newly discovered bug the fitting name Swiftiephylus. The genus comprises 12 newly identified species of plant bugs, and interestingly four of them pay tribute to Taylor Swift or her album. The newly named bugs under the genus are Swiftiephylus taylorae, Swiftiephylus amator, Swiftiephylus intrepidus and Swiftiephylus poetorum. 

Swiftiephylus taylorae is the Latinised version of the singer’s name while others are the derivations of her albums and songs. Her infamous romantic album Lover is scientifically renamed as Swiftiephylus amator, while Swiftiephylus intrepidus and Swiftiephylus poetorum are references from her other albums Fearless and The Tortured Poets Department, respectively. 

And that’s not all! Back in 2022, scientist Derek Hennen’s love for the singer inspired him to convince his fellow researchers in naming a millipede species after her. Nannaria swiftae, a twisted-claw millipede, found in the Appalachian Mountains, was named directly after Taylor Swift and became the first known species to carry a name inspired by the pop star. 

Later in the following year in 2023, Taylor was honoured in context to another species. Found in Costa Rica, scientists named an ant-mimicking spider species, Castianeira swiftay. It’s a spider less than 1 cm, mostly reddish-brown in colour. The distinct spot of white bristle makes it one of a kind.

With millions of insects and other species still waiting to be discovered, all we can do is wait and see which celebrity might be the next to make it onto the honour list.

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