CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Scientists have identified and named a previously unrecognized butterfly species in honor of Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian woman who was fatally stabbed on the CATS light rail in August.

The butterfly, now called Celastrina iryna or "Iryna's Azure," inhabits the southeastern coastal plain region of the United States and was officially described in a scientific paper published in September in The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey .

Lepidopterist Harry Pavulaan, who discovered and described the species, said the name honors Zarutska's memory and embodies the qualities her name represents in Ukrainian culture.

"The name is derived from the Greek goddess of peace, and is associated with tranquility, harmony and serenity," Pavulaan wrote in

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