The Entomological Society of America unanimously voted last week to adopt the common name for the species. The society removed the common name from its list because it was seen as derogatory by many Romani people.
The common name for the species in Canada and France is Spongey.
Margareta Matache, instructor and director of the Roma Program at Harvard University, wrote in an email that she was heartened.
Jessica Ware is the president of the society and an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History.
When she moved to the United States, Dr. Matache learned about the offensive name.
Common names for insects are maintained by the Entomological Society of America. The society banned references to ethnicities, races or groups of people in common names in early 2021.
The process of changing the name began last July. A group of entomologists, researchers and professionals were assembled to select a new name for L. dispar and Aphaenogaster araneoides. The Better Common Names Project was formed to review other common names that may be offensive or inappropriate.
Hundreds of submissions from the public were received by the working group. It dropped some because they were not serious suggestions. It felt like they were trying to keep this insect related to the Romani people.
The winner was decided after the working group debated seven candidates. The 10 months refers to the time the insect spends in the egg cycle.
The new name has good historical and social precedent, according to a member of the working group.
Outside of New York City, Dr. Greenwood often saw the porous egg mass plastered to the trees by the spongy moths. In North America, the insect is an invader that can strip trees and shrubs of their leaves, sometimes leading to tree death or wildfires and causing significant environmental damage.
Updating the name wherever it is used will be difficult.
The Better Common Names Project published a guide to switch to the new name and set March 2023 as an encouraged date for full adoption.
The communications manager at the society said that the project has taken input on other potentially problematic names and will have a list of the next names by the summer. There is a possibility that insects are named after geographic places.
The Japanese beetle is an example of how the language used for control efforts can become very, very xenophobic.
The genes and plants have no formal body that governs their common names. The project is a great example of a community-based process that could lead to the creation of plants and animals with names.
In science, academic spaces and our societies, we should not allow dehumanization, racism and exploitation of cultures.
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