04.04.2025 11:40
Dr. Ersin Demirel, a faculty member at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, named a new insect species he discovered in Kırşehir after his wife, "Emine." The incident quickly became a topic of discussion, and Demirel stated, "We made this decision knowing that we would be lynched on social media."
A new species of insect was discovered during land studies in Kırşehir. The samples collected by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mahmut Erbey were first brought to the Entomology Laboratory at Kırşehir Ahi Evran University Faculty of Science and Letters, and then sent to Dr. Ersin Demirel, a faculty member at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University Faculty of Science and Letters, who is an expert in the field.
Demirel named the new insect species "Emine," after his wife. After preparing data related to the species and moving on to the scientific publication stage, the relevant article was published in the "Zootaxa Journal." Discussing the processes involved in the identification of the species, Demirel stated, "Our process can take about 6 months with academic studies. However, this only covers the publication stage. When we add the processes of collecting samples and identifying the species, the completion of the study took a year and a half. Finally, after making the identification, if we believe we have material that can qualify for publication, then the publication process begins. Generally, we make identifications based on very old publications, and since we do not have identified samples of previously identified materials, the identification stage constitutes the most critical phase in the identifications," he expressed.
"A SIGNIFICANT PLANT PEST"
Demirel stated that the samples collected by other authors in the article were sent to him, saying, "I evaluated these samples and after the evaluation, I determined that it was a new species. Consequently, we moved on to the publication stage. The species we mentioned belongs to the Cixiidae family. In the scientific world, the new species we introduced is a member of that family and is also a significant plant pest. They have a mouth type that we call piercing-sucking. Just like mosquitoes transmit malaria, these insects spread various microorganisms from plant to plant, making them sick," he said.
"WE MADE THIS DECISION KNOWING WE WOULD BE LYNCHED ON SOCIAL MEDIA"
Demirel, who stated that he graduated from the same university as his wife and that his wife has two sub-periods, said, "In Turkish society, especially naming an insect species after a woman requires a bit of courage. The idea of naming a species first occurred to me in the early years of my undergraduate studies. Of course, at that time, I did not have a partner. After meeting my wife, I shared the topic with her. We made this decision knowing we would be lynched on social media. Especially my wife's view was that you are giving this name, but you should also know that you could be lynched on social media. For me, it was more important to honor her and draw attention to Turkey's biodiversity issue. As a result of a joint decision, I named this species after my wife," he said.