They described a new species of leaf-dwelling mantis by establishing a female genitalia character system. The new species from Madagascar was named in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, for her relentless fight for gender equality. Cleveland Museum of Natural History scientists announced Wednesday the Madagascar species would be called the llomantis ginsburgae. "As a feminist biologist, I often questioned why female specimens weren't used to diagnose most species," Case Western Reserve University Ph.D. candidate Sydney Brannoch, the study's lead researcher, said in a statement . "This research establishes the validity of using female specimens in the classification of praying mantises." The authors also named the species for Ginsburg for her appreciation of the jabot, a decorative neck accessory, which resembles the neck plate of the insect.For the study, the researchers examined 30 praying mantis specimens from three museums.
– Ruth Bader Ginsburg: booze-swilling Supreme Court justice, part-time actress, and … new namesake of a praying mantis. Scientists from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History were examining 30 praying mantis specimens when they discovered that species—typically classified using a male specimen—could be differentiated simply by looking at female genitalia, according to a release, per the Washington Examiner. They then noticed that one specimen, collected from Madagascar in 1967, was actually a unique species bearing a resemblance to 83-year-old Ginsburg. As scientists explain, the so-named llomantis ginsburgae has a neck plate that brings to mind the jabot, or frilly collar, often found around the justice's neck. Since the researchers were the first "to use female genital structures to delimit a new species of praying mantis," and Ginsburg has devoted much of her life to gender equality, it only made sense to name the insect in her honor. "As a feminist biologist, I often questioned why female specimens weren't used to diagnose most species," the lead researcher says. "It is my hope that our work not only sets a precedent in taxonomy but also underscores the need for scientists to investigate and equally consider both sexes in other scientific investigations." The llomantis ginsburgae species—kept in a Paris museum—is described in the journal Insect Systematics & Evolution. (Does this frog species look oddly familiar?)