Now wokeism is going for our birds and insects
A new breed of nature-spotters is lobbying to change the names of species with links to slavery and colonialism
15 July 2021 • 5:00am
The once peaceful pursuit has all of a sudden had the binoculars trained inwards
Of all the havoc gypsy moths wreak – ransacking entire forests by chewing tree leaves bare – the insects are now at the centre of a battle bigger still: nature’s culture war.
The species is now only to be referred to as Lymantria dispar after a review from the Entomological Society of America (ESA), which concluded that some insect names “may be inappropriate or offensive” – in this case, towards the Romani people. The gypsy ant has met the same fate, while the Oriental rat flea, Asian needle ant and the West Indian cane weevil are all subject to revision from the ESA’s “Better Common Names Project”, which is asking for the public’s help in identifying potentially offensive terms.