Sauron in Lord of the Rings Bestows Name on Uncommon Butterflies

A group of butterflies with orange wings and dark eyespots have been named Saurona after the Lord Of The Rings villain. These butterflies possess black rings on their vivid orange wings that are reminiscent of the all-seeing eye described in JRR Tolkien’s books and depicted in the movie series. Saurona is one of the many new butterfly groups described by an international team of researchers, including Dr. Blanca Huertas, senior curator of butterflies at the Natural History Museum. While there are currently only two members of this new group – Saurona triangula and Saurona aurigera – many more as-yet-undescribed species are thought to exist. The research was a culmination of a decade’s worth of work to study the butterfly subtribe Euptychiina and was carried out by a team of 30 scientists collaborating across the globe, including researchers from the Natural History Museum London, Harvard University, Florida Museum of Natural History, and Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig.

The wider research analysed more than 400 different species, with the collections of butterflies from the Natural History Museum of over 5.5 million specimens contributing significantly. Researchers were able to use advances in DNA sequencing to identify similar-looking species not only by their appearance but also by their genetics. This research suggests that interest can yield important findings including whether species are endemic to an area or vulnerable to extinction. The team of researchers also named another butterfly genus Argenteria, which translates to English as “silver mine” on account of the silver scales on the wings. Dr. Huertas said that “Giving these butterflies an unusual name helps to draw attention to this underappreciated group.” and “It shows that, even among a group of very similar-looking species, you can find beauty among the dullness.”

While Saurona triangula and Saurona aurigera are the first butterflies named after Sauron, a dung beetle, a frog, and even a dinosaur have been named after the villain, also in reference to the eye. The journal Systematic Entomology published the findings.