Taylor Swift honored with new genus of Australian plant bugs

A new genus of Australian plant bugs has been named ‘Swiftiephylus’ in honor of American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The discovery, published in the journal Insect Systematics and Evolution, describes 12 new species within the Miridae family.

Sarah Schroeder, an entomology doctoral student at the University of California, Riverside, led the research. Four of the species were named using Latinized versions of Swift’s name and her albums, including ‘Swiftiephylus taylorae’, ‘Swiftiephylus amator’ (Lover), ‘Swiftiephylus intrepidus’ (Fearless), and ‘Swiftiephylus poetorum’ (The Tortured Poets Department).

The researcher noted that the insects’ pale yellow coloring with red accents reminded her of Swift’s iconic blonde hair and red lips, which may also serve as camouflage among the red and orange flowers of their host plants. These bugs, which were collected from museum collections originally gathered between 1995 and 2004, are found on trees and shrubs in Australia and are not considered agricultural pests.