Hemiandrus jacinda
(Picture: Steven A Trewick via Zootaxa (https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4942.2.4) )New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Arden has had a newly discovered insect named after her.
A new species of wÄtÄ – a giant flightless cricket that is native to New Zealand – has been named Hemiandrus jacinda because it is Labour-red in colour and “long-legged”.
Steven Trewick, a professor in evolutionary ecology at Massey University in New Zealand and the scientist who named and formally described the insect, told the Guardian it had struck him for “reflecting traits of the prime minister”.
It was a “striking species”, he said.
Many took to social media to share their thoughts on the honour.
One person tweeted: “Hope @jacindaardern likes this cos #wÄtÄ are brilliant beasties”.
Another wrote: “What an honour!”.
More than 100 distinct species of wÄtÄ are located in caves, trees, bush and even suburban gardens.
Along with other members of the Hemiandrus group, jacinda makes burrows in the ground and surfaces at night to hunt.
The newly identified species is larger and more brightly coloured than the 17 ground wÄtÄ already recorded, and is found in native forests in Bay of Plenty, Northland, Waikato and Coromandel in the upper North Island.
The Zootaxa journal described it for the first time on Friday as “comparatively large, long-limbed, glossy and predominantly orange-red”.
Mr Trewick said it was remarkable that jacinda hadn’t been recognised until now, given that it had been discovered near to densely populated areas and that it was “not a small, cryptic beast but a hefty insect with flamboyant colouring”.
He added that it was proof that despite environmental changes and loss of natural habitat, the discovery of new species still continues.
“The wÄtÄ of New Zealand are a rich and diverse radiation of species living in all sorts of habitats – yet many remain to be recognised”.
Despite jacinda being recently discovered, Mr Trewick warned it was likely to be already declining due to ongoing threats from predators which include rats and cats.
Habitat loss and modification such as farmland also pose issues for the species.
