Newly Described Moth Species Named After Pope Leo XIV

New Moth Species Found Only on Crete Gets a Papal Name

On an island that humans have called home for thousands of years, a small, colorful moth managed to hide in the mountains without anyone realizing it was something science had never documented. Researchers have now officially described the new species in Nota Lepidopterologica, placing it among a small club of moths found nowhere else on Earth but the Greek island of Crete, living quietly in the rugged White Mountains of the island’s western reaches. They’ve named it Pyralis papaleonei, after Pope Leo XIV.

The naming choice isn’t random flattery. According to the researchers, the Pope “is a strong advocate of climate and environmental protection,” and they expressed hope that “his voice may serve as an example for humanity.” There’s also a playful historical logic at work. The moth belongs to a group whose members already bear names referencing powerful titles: regalis (royal), imperialis (imperial), princeps (prince), and cardinalis (cardinal). Adding a papal name to the lineup felt like a natural next step.

A Newly Described Moth Species Hiding in the Mountains of Crete

Beyond the headline-grabbing name, the discovery carries a message about how much of the natural world remains undocumented, even in Europe, where many moths and butterflies have been collected for generations. Crete is no remote wilderness. It’s a major Mediterranean island with a long history of scientific exploration. Yet roughly 40 percent of the 76 moth and butterfly species found nowhere else on Earth but Crete have been described only since the year 2000. This new moth is simply the latest reminder that there is still plenty left to find, if researchers look closely enough.

Part of what kept this moth hidden is that it looks a lot like its relatives at first glance. It belongs to a cluster of closely related species scattered across Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. For years, specimens from Crete had been grouped with a similar-looking species called Pyralis kacheticalis, which ranges from the Greek island of Samos through Georgia, Armenia, and into Iraq. One DNA sequence from a Cretan specimen had raised eyebrows in an earlier 2020 study, but at the time, the researchers interpreted the difference as natural variation within a single species rather than evidence of something new.

That changed when one of the study’s authors, Peter Huemer, collected and genetically sequenced a much larger batch of specimens from Crete as part of a broader survey of the island’s moth and butterfly populations. With 45 individuals of the mystery moth and 15 specimens of P. kacheticalis for comparison, the team had enough evidence to describe it as a separate species.

DNA Evidence Strongly Supports a New Moth Species on Crete

When the team compared the Cretan moth’s genetic signature against its closest relative, P. kacheticalis, the two differed by 5.78 percent. For context, differences between recognized species in this group range from about 4 to nearly 9 percent, while variation within a single species is typically much lower. Members of the Cretan population showed zero genetic variation among themselves and were assigned a unique identifier in the global Barcode of Life database. Compared to P. regalis, a species found on the nearby Peloponnese peninsula of mainland Greece, the gap was even wider at 9.4 percent.

Researchers examined roughly 700 specimens from the broader species group, combining new collections with about 600 previously studied individuals, and generated 38 new DNA sequences to add to 90 already published ones.

Physical examination backed up what the DNA was showing. Under close inspection, the Cretan moth has distinctly narrow white markings on its forewings, a nearly uniform slender white band stretching across the entire wing, and pale grayish-purple hindwings that are more uniform in shade than those of its relatives. Even the reproductive structures, tiny anatomical features specialists routinely examine to tell moth species apart, showed unique traits. Most notably, females of the new species possess a hardened internal structure absent in all other members of its species group.

A Mountain Dweller With a Very Small World

Almost all known specimens of Pyralis papaleonei come from elevations between roughly 1,000 and 1,200 meters in the White Mountains, centered around the Omalos plateau in western Crete. None have been found near the coast. Adults have mostly been collected in June, though one specimen was caught in October, raising the possibility of a long active season or a second generation per year. What the moth’s caterpillars eat and how they develop remain completely unknown.

Perhaps most intriguing is what this single discovery reveals about the rest of the group. A related species, P. kacheticalis, shows unusually high genetic variation across its range, with differences that appear to track geography and may come with physical differences as well. Two genetically distinct clusters from China, previously misidentified as P. regalis, also likely represent species that haven’t been formally described yet.

In other words, the naming of Pyralis papaleonei probably isn’t the end of the story. Even among colorful, well-collected, seemingly well-understood groups of insects, undiscovered species are still quietly going about their lives. A moth named for a pope who champions environmental stewardship seems like a fitting symbol for that message, a small, beautiful creature whose very existence argues for paying closer attention to the natural world before some of those species are better understood.

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