Taylor Swift has a new title to add to her list of accolades: namesake of a dozen newly identified insect species from Australia. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside detailed the discovery in a paper describing 12 new species, published in the journal Insect Systematics and Evolution.
Among the findings is an entirely new genus named Swiftiephylus, a blend of "Swiftie" — the nickname for Swift's fan base — and "Phylus," a suffix commonly used for this group of insects. Four species within that genus carry names directly inspired by Swift and her music: Swiftiephylus taylorae, Swiftiephylus amator, Swiftiephylus intrepidus, and Swiftiephylus poetorum, which are Latin renderings of "Taylor," "lover," "fearless" and "poets."
The insects are closely tied to Australian she-oaks, trees and shrubs that survive in conditions ranging from tropical forests to coastal dunes and extreme heat. According to UC Riverside, many plant bugs like these spend their entire life cycle — from hatching to egg-laying — on a single host plant.
UC Riverside entomology doctoral student Sarah Schroeder led the naming effort. "It felt authentic to me as a lifelong Swiftie to honor Taylor in this way, as well as bring attention to the diversity of insects that has yet to be discovered," she said in a statement released by the university.
Schroeder said the tribute also stems from the insects' appearance. She believes their coloring allows them to blend in among she-oak flowers, which display thin red-to-orange structures. Similar cream-and-red coloring has turned up in distantly related bugs sharing the same plants, hinting that the camouflage may have evolved more than once, independently. "Taylor Swift's iconic look is her blonde hair and red lips. These insects are pale yellow with accents of red throughout," Schroeder said. "In the paper, I refer to them as blonde."
According to UC Riverside, the new insects are not known to pose any threat to humans or animals. They belong to Miridae, the largest family of true bugs, which includes more than 11,000 described species worldwide.
While new to science, the specimens themselves are not recent finds. They were collected between 1995 and 2004 as part of a large-scale biodiversity survey involving researchers from the American Museum of Natural History alongside Australian collaborators. That effort produced more than 50,000 specimens, many of which have taken years of taxonomic study to sort, examine and formally describe.
"Taxonomy is the cornerstone of conservation," Schroeder said. "If we don't describe species, we don't know they exist and can't conserve them. Honoring Taylor through naming these species after her is a way to honor conservation science and bring attention to all the unknown diversity."
This isn't the first time UC Riverside's entomologists have turned to celebrity for inspiration. In 2022, the university's bug researchers named a tarantula-killing, hermaphroditic species of worm after actor Jeff Daniels.
Photo: Likie212, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
