Yale University
The ant came in a small vial of ethanol, sealed in a plastic bag, and packed in a small cardboard box. It was addressed to Yale’s Douglas B. Booher.
German entomologist Phillip Hoenle had discovered the ant, which he noted had some peculiar features, in a rain forest in Ecuador. Now he wanted Booher, a research associate in the Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change and the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, to confirm whether this trap ant was truly a new species. If so, Hoenle and Booher would have the honor of naming it.
Booher had imagined this moment for years. He had even discussed it with an old friend from Athens, Georgia, the artist and former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe. After receiving the specimen he reached out to Stipe.
A newly discovered miniature trap-jaw ant from the evergreen tropical forests of Ecuador has been named in recognition of gender diversity.
The insect bears the Latin name Strumigenys ayersthey, making it possibly the only species in the world to have a scientific name with the suffix -they, in a nod to gender diversity.
There are hundreds of other ants which are named in honour of people, but end with -ae after females and -i after males.
American singer-songwriter Michael Stipe, of alternative rock band R.E.M., joined Douglas Booher of Yale University in America in the writing of the etymology section for the article.
By Bill Hathaway
May 5, 2021
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The new species of ant, discovered in an Ecuadorian rain forest, is notable for its smooth and shining cuticles and large trap jaw mandibles. (Phil Hoenle)
The ant came in a small vial of ethanol, sealed in a plastic bag, and packed in a small cardboard box. It was addressed to Yale’s Douglas B. Booher.
German entomologist Phillip Hoenle had discovered the ant, which he noted had some peculiar features, in a rain forest in Ecuador. Now he wanted Booher, a research associate in the Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change and the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, to confirm whether this trap ant was truly a new species. If so, Hoenle and Booher would have the honor of naming it.
A newly-discovered ant is the first animal species to be given a scientific name ending with they , in a tribute to non-binary people.
The miniature trap jaw ant from the evergreen tropical forests of Ecuador has been given the unconventional Latin name Strumigenys ayersthey.
The they suffix at the end of the ant s name is in recognition of all non-binary people and a celebration of gender diversity, its discoverers say. Non-binary is a term used to describe people who do not identify as either masculine or feminine.
Non-binary people, including the British pop star Sam Smith, therefore like to be referred to as they and them – rather than he and him , or she and her .
we hope this is a come compelling conversation on reform, and we are excited to have a distinguished group of panel is to kick start the conversation, but we hope you join in as we move along this morning. over the past five years, states have lunched unprecedented efforts to reform their education system. 46 states adopted the common core standards. twenty-five include measures of student learning and teacher evaluations according to the most recent data from the national council on teacher quality. states lifted caps on charter schools, put time and money on school turn around and changed the capital policies. now 33 states have waivers from the no child left behind act to alter the systems as well as designing teacher and principal evaluation systems and career readiness standard. states, themselves, initiated many of the changes. others were spurred by federal program like race to the top. the waiver process itself does not appear to have stimulated new innovations, b