Naming Rights to New Moth Species Auctioned on eBay

Posted on October 19, 2015

The Western National Parks Association (WNPA) is auctioning off the naming rights to a previously unknown moth species on eBay. The winning bidder will receive the opportunity to create an official scientific moth name of their choice.

The moth is in the family Cossidae and the genus is Givira. It has an average wingspan of about 1 inch (2.54 centimeters). A specimen of the moth will be housed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.

The eBay listing can be found here. The auction runs from now through October 23, 2015. WNPA says in a statement, "Don't let this opportunity fly by."

The listing says the winner of the auction will get to work with research scientist Eric H. Metzler to create an official scientific moth name. Metzler conducts research on moth species at White Sands National Monument. He has discovered about 40 new moth species.

The listing also says the official scientific name of a new moth species will be "permanently attributed to the winner and documented through the Commission of Zoological Nomenclature on ZooBank an online registry of names."

A Q&A on the listing says you can use your last name for the moth but it has to be Latinized. It also says "either a first or last name can be used as long as the name has not already been taken for another moth." The current top bid for the naming rights is $6,000 after 33 bids.


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