Rare Butterfly Genus Named After Lord Of The Rings Villain Sauron

A new species of butterfly with unique orange wings and dark dots on its eyes has been discovered by scientists. The genus has been named Saurona, after the dark lord Sauron, who is the primary antagonist of the epic high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, because of its remarkable appearance.

"The Eye of Sauron is a well-known symbol from the Lord of the Rings, and was famously depicted on screen as a fiery orange eye peering over the landscape of Middle Earth. So when a group of butterflies with bright orange hindwings and dark eyespots needed redescribing, researchers wasted no time in honouring the work of J.R.R. Tolkien in the name of a new genus," said the Natural History Museum in London in a release that announced the new name on Sunday.

Saurona is one of several new butterfly genera described by an international team of researchers in a new paper and one of two named by Dr Blanca Huertas, the Senior Curator of Butterflies at the Museum.

'Giving these butterflies an unusual name helps to draw attention to this underappreciated group,' Blanca says. 'It shows that, even among a group of very similar-looking species, you can find beauty among the dullness.'

'Naming a genus is not something that happens very often, and it's even more rare to be able to name two at once. It was a great privilege to do so, and now it means that we can start describing new species that we have uncovered as a result of this research.'

The study was published in Systematic Entomology, a scientific journal.