An estimated ten million different species of insects may exist on Earth, of which at least one million are known and officially named. The scientific binomial names of this vast quantity of insects follow the standards set by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.
The basic unit of insect classification is Species, and is typically written using Binomial Nomenclature.
The scientific name of a species is composed of the Genus name (Capitalized initial, italic) + specific epithet (italic), with the specific epithet modifying the genus name to indicate a particular species within that genus.
For example, the scientific name of the Japanese rhinoceros beetle is Trypoxylus dichotomus, where Trypoxylus is the genus name and dichotomus is the specific epithet.
The specific epithet is given by the biologist who officially describes the species in scientific literature and submits their work for peer review. It often has roots in Latin or Greek vocabulary. The epithet distinguishes the species from others within the genus, often using the species’ features, place of discovery, origin, or even the name of the discoverer in Latinized form.
The Latin word, dichotomus, means “dividing into two parts” and describes the giant forked horn on the head of the Japanese rhinoceros beetle.
Trypoxylus dichotomus
Camponotus pennsylvanicus, or the black carpenter ant, is one of the most common carpenter ants in eastern and central North America. This species was not named for a feature, but rather for its home territory. It was first discovered in Pennsylvania, so scientists gave it the specific epithet, pennsylvanicus.
Camponotus pennsylvanicus