Scientists from the Jagiellonian University have discovered a new species of butterfly. As a tribute to Nicolaus Copernicus, the insect was named in honour of the eminent scientist on the 550th anniversary of his birth.

Found only in the Peruvian Andes, the insect was given the Latin name Catasticta copernicus. In this way, the researchers paid tribute to Nicolaus Copernicus, an eminent and versatile scientist, on the 550th anniversary of his birth.

Catasticta is a diverse genus of butterflies in the Pieridae family, in which more than 100 species have so far been distinguished and described. The genus has attracted the attention of many researchers and seems to be fairly well understood. Meanwhile, scientists from the Jagiellonian University have identified its new species.

‘Any researcher discovering a species new to science has the privilege of choosing a name for it. Admittedly, the name must comply with the relevant code, but there is a great deal of freedom as to its meaning. Importantly, once given, it cannot be removed, erased – a trace of it remains forever in the scientific literature. Honouring a person by borrowing a name from his or her forename or surname is a kind of monument that cannot be overturned’, says deputy director of the Centre for Nature Education at Jagiellonian University Dr Rafał Garlacz.

Catasticta copernicus is found at the forest edge at an altitude of around 3,500 m in the Peruvian part of the Andes. The males are strongly territorial and chase other insects away from where they wait for the females. They choose strategic positions above a tree crown or over a sharp mountain ridge and actively guard it during the night hours.

The species Catasticta copernicus was described in the scientific journal Zootaxa by a team of authors, three of them employees of the Jagiellonian University. Their discovery proves that the level of understanding of many regions of the world is still deficient and that only intensive field research can help fill the gap before these areas are irretrievably destroyed by humans.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński