Spongy Moth is the new name for a destructive moth : NPR
[ad_1]
Jane Lindholm/VPR
When the common name for a common forest pest contains a racial slur, how do you rename it?
The pest, in this case, is an invasive moth that’s been devouring foliage, in its caterpillar stage, since the 1800s. It causes hundreds of millions of dollars in damage each year in the eastern United States.
“They basically, like the Very Hungry Caterpillar, are just chewing their way through deciduous forests,” says Jessica Ware, president of the Entomological Society of America.
In addition to the damage this moth does to trees, its common name also contains an offensive racial slur. We’ll name it here, once, so you know what we’re talking about: the gypsy moth.
Acknowledging that “There’s no need, really, in 2022 to have racial slurs in insect names,” Ware was among the scientists and others who thought the moth needed a new name.
So, the Entomological Society ramped up an initiative last year called The Better Names Project to address this and other insects in need of rebranding.
The core group for this moth included 57 people of diverse backgrounds and lots of public suggestions and input. More than 200 new names were suggested—and rejected, in the end, in favor of this now official new name: spongy moth.
“Spongy” is in reference to the egg masses of this species, which are kind of spongy-looking as they overwinter on trees. Plus, this new name fits well with what the moth is called in other languages and countries. (In France and francophone Canada it’s known as la spongieuse. In Turkey its name translates to sponge-knitter and in Germany it’s sponge-spinner.)
Beyond fitting in with its name in other languages, this new terminology also removes some of the harm done by its previous name.
Jane Lindholm/VPR
Magda Matache, a Romani scholar and director of the Roma Program at Harvard University, says the old name equated Romani people with insects, part of a long history of dehumanization. Plus, she says, “Gypsy is considered a racial slur by many Romani people. It carries a very painful history, and it is offensive.”
Matache, who worked on this renaming project for more than a year, loves the new name. And she says while changing an insect name is a small step in combating anti-Romani racism, “It is an extraordinary step that can push others to demand name changes for businesses, events, websites, fashion collections, cakes, drinks, food that includes the G word.”
It’s not just the “G word”. Americans are still coming to terms with name changes for all kinds of things, from national parks to academic and community buildings, to birds. It can take a while for these new names to catch on—and for people to stop referencing the old name to connect the dots.
But for the spongy moth, the name change comes at an ideal time. Those spongy egg masses are set to start hatching later this spring, giving people in outbreak areas plenty of opportunity to practice the new name.
[ad_2]
Source link
Everything about medicine. Medscape Drugs & Diseases.
buy mobic without a prescription
safe and effective drugs are available. Everything about medicine.
lexapro tablets
tor market links dark website
tor market url darknet seiten
buy lipitor 40mg order lipitor pills purchase atorvastatin
finasteride pills order propecia generic forcan online buy
ciprofloxacin 500mg us – ethambutol cheap amoxiclav brand
ciprofloxacin pills – how to buy cephalexin buy augmentin 625mg generic
buy flagyl 200mg sale – how to buy amoxicillin buy zithromax pills
buy ciplox pills for sale – buy tindamax pills erythromycin pills
ivermectin 6 mg for humans – ciplox usa order tetracycline 500mg for sale
buy valacyclovir 1000mg generic – diltiazem 180mg generic buy acyclovir 800mg for sale
buy acillin sale buy cheap amoxil buy amoxicillin generic
buy flagyl 200mg without prescription – cefaclor 250mg capsules azithromycin online buy
furosemide price – buy lasix 40mg sale where can i buy nateglinide
buy metformin 500mg sale – buy metformin 1000mg generic where can i buy lincomycin
buy retrovir 300 mg for sale – zyloprim us order zyloprim 300mg generic
clozapine where to buy – clozaril over the counter order pepcid for sale
quetiapine 100mg sale – buy sertraline for sale purchase eskalith online cheap
buy anafranil – buy remeron 30mg sale sinequan 75mg pill
order generic atarax – order lexapro 10mg pills order endep 25mg without prescription
buy amoxiclav for sale – linezolid 600 mg canada where can i buy ciprofloxacin
buy cheap generic amoxil – buy amoxil cheap order cipro 1000mg pills
azithromycin tablet – ofloxacin price order ciprofloxacin without prescription
cleocin 300mg price – buy clindamycin generic chloramphenicol online order
ivermectin for humans for sale – cefaclor usa brand cefaclor 500mg
brand albuterol – buy fluticasone generic theophylline 400 mg brand
oral depo-medrol cost – cost astelin 10ml order azelastine 10 ml sale
clarinex cost – buy flixotide online albuterol 4mg brand
micronase 2.5mg pills – buy dapagliflozin for sale generic dapagliflozin
order lamisil without prescription – lamisil medication order grifulvin v pills
semaglutide brand – semaglutide for sale online buy generic desmopressin
purchase nizoral online – cheap nizoral 200 mg buy sporanox 100 mg online
buy famvir sale – buy valcivir 500mg generic order valcivir pills
order digoxin 250 mg generic – buy lasix 40mg for sale lasix 100mg sale