Butterfly species named after the Dark Lord –

The fantasy world of The Lord of the Rings is chock full of characters, creatures and locations that can be used as inspiration to name things. But The Natural History Museum in London has decided to lean on a darker part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world when naming a new genus of butterflies.

As reported by the BBC, the Dark Lord, Sauron, was used as inspiration for naming the Saurona butterfly species, all because the black rings on the insect’s orange wings reminded scientists of the Eye of Sauron sitting atop the fortress of Barad-dûr in Mordor.

So far, two species of butterflies have been added to the genus Saurona, with these being the Saurona triangular and the Saurona aurigera, although there is an expectation that more will be added in the future.