A lidless eye, "rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat's, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing," that is how the eye of Sauron – the evil lord of Mordor whose all-seeing fiery eye brought terror to Middle-earth and the Shires – is described in "The Lord of the Rings" novels. That doesn't sound like a butterfly, does it?
Well, scientists have discovered a new genus of butterfly, with distinctive orange wings and dark eyespots which makes it possess a striking appearance that has led the international team to label the genus Saurona, after Sauron.
Experts came up with the name Saurona because the dark circles present on the orange wings of the insect resembled the all-seeing eye of author JRR Tolkien.
The name was given by Dr. Blanca Heurtas, curator of the butterflies at the Natural History Museum in London which hopes the unusual title will draw attention to the species and help generate more research.
By utilizing advancements in DNA technology, experts examined over 400 diverse butterfly species to identify the differences between them, both in their genetic composition and physical characteristics. The global project has taken more than a decade to complete.
Naming creatures after the iconic villain Sauron is not unique to Saurona triangula and Saurona aurigera though.
There are previous examples of references to the villain's glowing eye in the names of a dinosaur, a frog and a dung beetle.
