A newly discovered millipede species has been named after Swift, according to a study published in the journal ZooKeys. It’s called Nannaria swiftae or Swift Twisted-Claw Millipede.
The study’s lead author, Derek Hennen, is a self-proclaimed swiftie and wanted to honor the singer. At the time of the research, he was a graduate student at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
“Their music got me through tough times, and it’s kind of a nice little thank you to give for the joy their music has brought me,” said Hennen.
Hennen found the Appalachian millipede at Fall Creek Falls State Park in Spencer, Tennessee, the same state Swift moved to as a teenager to pursue her singing career.
When Swift finds out about the naming, Hennen hopes she’ll be excited and takes the opportunity to learn more about the centipede.
“It’s an honor for a scientist to name a species after someone, so I hope she sees it positively,” he said.
It’s a “pretty” centipede, with a maroon color and reddish-orange spots on its sides, Hennen said.
Paul Marek, associate professor in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech and formal graduate student Jackson Means at Virginia Tech, traveled through 17 states with hens from 2015 to 2019 and found 17 new millipede species.
“It’s funny because when I started it was like, ‘Wow! A new species!’ but after we’ve been at it for a couple of years, it’s like, ‘We’ve got another new species of centipede, throw it on top of that,'” Hennen said.
Centipedes are one of the lesser-known creatures because they’re not as flashy as butterflies or dragonflies, which is why so many new species are being discovered, he said.
These insects prefer wild habitats and are important in nutrient cycling, Hennen said. Centipedes act as “leaf recyclers,” eating dead plants and thereby pooping and fertilizing the soil, he explained.
Another special centipede
Swift isn’t the only person Hennen has named a centipede discovery after. Hennen named another new species, Nannaria marianae, also known as the Maple Flats twisted-claw millipede, after his wife Marian.
On the walks they take together, his wife waits patiently while Hennen looks out for centipedes, which he says happens on almost every outing.
“She was by my side the entire time I was working on my PhD and gave me a lot of love and support, and this is my way of showing my love and support for her,” Hennen said.
Star Hall of Fame
Other celebrities have named an animal or plant after themselves.
- Drag queen RuPaul had a rainbow-colored bow tie, Opaluma rupaul, named after him.
- A bee fly found in Australia was named Paramonovius Nightking, after the Night King in Game of Thrones.
- Leonardo DiCaprio had a tree, Uvariopsis dicaprio, named after him for his conservation efforts.
- Australian scientists named a number of new species after Marvel characters, including Thor. The scientific name of the species of fly is Daptolestes bronteflavus, with the second word translated as “blonde thunder.”
- Many other animals are named after celebrities like Dolly Parton and Lady Gaga. Parton had a lichen named after her called Japewiella dollypartoniana and Gaga had an entire genus of plants called Monstraparva, also known as her DNA sequence GAGA.