English: The 'eyeless Hitler beetle' Anophthalmus hitleri, 1937, Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History.

The scientific name of the beetle comes from a German collector, Oskar Scheibel (1881-1953), who was sold a specimen of a then undocumented species in 1933. Its species name was made a dedication to Adolf Hitler, who had recently become Chancellor of Germany. The genus name means eyeless, so the full name can be translated as "the eyeless one of Hitler". The dedication did not go unnoticed by the Führer, who sent Scheibel a letter showing his gratitude.

The species exhibits no notable characteristics, such as extravagant colors or unusual antennae, and is of interest to collectors of Hitler memorabilia and beetle collectors purely as a result of its name. This is putting the beetle in danger of extinction.

After World War II, renaming the beetle was rejected by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, as the beetle's name was originally published in full accordance with the rules set forth by the ICZN.