The name of the beetle, an insect closely related to the beetle, is controversial in the scientific community because it is named after Adolf Hitler.
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This Slovenian beetle has a scientific name, d“Anophthalmus hitleri. It was discovered in the 1930s by Adolf Hitler’s great steward, Oscar Sheibel, an entomologist who wanted to dedicate his discovery to the German dictator to express his “respect”. But the bug Anophthalmus hitleri it was found (link in English), poached for decades by neo-Nazi collectors nostalgic for the Third Reich, to the point of extinction.
The insect now finds itself at the center of a very heated debate among scientists. In fact, some of them are asking that his name be changed “to erase the memory of people who have caused countless sufferings.”
In addition, last January, the body that sets the rules for naming animal species, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, estimated in the journal (link in English) that changing species names for ethical reasons could threaten the stability of scientific names.
Beetle, far from alone
Especially since the bug isn’t the only animal affected. Also in 1934, a German paleontologist named a prehistoric insect Rochlingia hitleri. As for Benito Mussolini, he was entitled to his butterfly name, Hypopte mussolini. Sometimes the names are not chosen as tributes at all. For example, in 2018 a British company paid US$25,000 to name a blind frolicking amphibian, Dermophis donaldtrumpito illustrate former US President Donald Trump’s blindness to climate change.
In any case, this scientific dispute should be resolved by a congressional vote in the summer of 2024 on this option. The beetle only needs to cross its wings to be given a name a little less indicative of genocide and crimes against humanity, because, as Portuguese botanist Estrela Figueiredo says, “In what other field of human activity do we still find names associated with Hitler? Scientific codes must change and adapt, just like the rest of society.”