Scientists want to rename the Hitler beetle — but not for the reason you think

In 1933, amateur entomologist Oskar Scheibel added an unusual insect to his collection. The specimen turned out to be a previously unknown and rare blind cave beetle from Slovenia. The Austrian engineer named it Anophthalmus hitleri. The first word derived from the Greek for “without eyes,” the second from the leader of Nazi Germany at the time, Adolf Hitler.

Over the ensuing decades, many in the taxonomy community objected to using nomenclature linked to the man largely responsible for the Holocaust. Now that name could be changed – but not for the reason you might think.

Some scientists are proposing the change to protect the beetle. They point out that the tiny blind bug has been driven to near extinction by neo-Nazis unlawfully collecting it because of its infamous scientific title.

“It’s an innocent insect,” a Canadian anthropologist wrote last year in the Economist. “Why not end this illegal trade by changing its name?”

In addition to the beetle A. hitleri, countless other species have been named after people and places that reflect racist, sexual, colonial and other biases. Included on this list are Hypopta mussolinii, a butterfly found in Libya named for fascist leader Benito Mussolini; Hibbertia, a genus of flowering plants honoring the English slavery defender and plantation owner George Hibbert; and Plantago cafra, or cape plantain, an African plant whose name is partially derived from a South African slur against Black people.

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