Researchers say the pale, elongated body of a newly discovered species of ant living in Western Australia’s outback inspired them to give it a villainous name.
The ant has been given the name Voldemort — in honour of the main antagonist in the Harry Potter series.
Mark Wong from the University of Western Australia made the discovery near Newman in the Pilbara region in early March, and gave the insect the full scientific name of Leptanilla voldemort.
He said he noted that it looked very similar to Ralph Fiennes’ portrayal of the character.
“They live exclusively underground, and have pale features — it looks very ghostly,” Dr Wong said.
“It’s extremely slender and it’s got sharp fangs.
“That villainous appearance inspired me to name it after a famous villain like Lord Voldemort.”
Dr Wong, who grew up reading the Harry Potter books and watching the film series, said he was a fan of the villain — often referred to in the series as “He Who Must Not Be Named”.
He joked that he was nearly tempted to call it “the ant who must not be named”.
Animals named after film and TV characters are fairly common, especially insects.
Two spider species share a name with The Big Lebowski, and in Australia two wasps have been named after Crocodile Dundee.
A number of organisms also share names with other Harry Potter characters, including a spider bearing the name of Gryffindor, a crab named for Severus Snape, and a wasp similarly named for a villain, Lucius Malfoy.
Surprisingly, this latest discovery seems to be the only one that bears the dark lord’s name.
“This is probably the first organism that is named after Voldemort,” Dr Wong said.
A rare discovery
There are more than 14,000 species of ants around the world, but this latest discovery is a unique one.
The villainous ant falls under the Leptanilla genus — of which only about 60 are known to exist worldwide.
This latest discovery is only the second time Leptanilla ants have been found in Australia.
“Leptanilla ants are very rare,” Dr Wong said.
“We hardly encounter them, even as experienced myrmecologists, or ant scientists.”
The two confirmed specimens of L. voldemort were only discovered when researchers drilled a 25-metre-deep hole and extracted them.
Dr Wong said like their namesake, Leptanilla voldemort appear to be ruthless, specialised hunters.
Although not much is currently known about the species or Leptanilla ants in general, Dr Wong said the latest discovery will help better understand global ant species.
“Documenting the diversity of these and other ants that live underground is the next frontier in myrmecology.”
Much like the activities of rogue wizards, experts in the field of myrmecology are keen to learn more about these species.