US/World News

Ruth Bader Ginsburg the namesake for new species of insect

(JTA) — Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish Supreme Court justice, may have a university named for him. But Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first female Jewish justice on the high court, now has an entire species — even if it is a rather small one: the leaf-dwelling Ilomantis ginsburgae. The newly identified type of praying mantis was discovered at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the museum announced in a June 1 news release. It is green, with a flattened body, conical eyes and broad wings with “venation that resembles the vein patterns on leaves,” according to the release.

Researchers said they named the Madagascar native for the 83-year-old Brooklyn native, known by some fans as the Notorious RBG, to honor the esteemed judge’s “relentless fight for gender equality.” Like Ginsburg, the mantis is something of a feminist pioneer, since it is, according to the news release, the first mantis classified by distinct qualities in its female reproductive parts, rather than its male ones. The authors  said another reason they named the species for Ginsburg is because its neck plate resembles the ruffled collars the judge frequently wears.

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