diff --git a/utilities.py b/utilities.py
index 30387d570b29bcaa14aa7bcfc93fa5e170f36836..93c3e72d49d6709548402e87e3b14c2cd3945b9d 100755
--- a/utilities.py
+++ b/utilities.py
@@ -123,13 +123,9 @@ def get_species_history_id(instance, full_name):
 
 def get_gspecies_string_from_sp_dict(sp_dict):
 
-    gspecies = ""
-    for k, v in sp_dict.items():
-        for k2, v2 in v.items():
-            if k2 == "genus":
-                gspecies = gspecies.lower() + v2
-            elif k2 == "species":
-                gspecies = gspecies.lower() + "_" + v2
+    genus = sp_dict["description"]["genus"]
+    species = sp_dict["description"]["species"]
+    gspecies = genus.lower() + "_" + species.lower()
     return gspecies
 
 def get_unique_species_str_list(sp_dict_list):
@@ -164,7 +160,6 @@ def get_unique_species_dict_list(sp_dict_list):
 
     unique_species_dict = {}
     unique_species_list_of_dict = []
-    unique_species_genus_species = get_unique_species_str_list(sp_dict_list=sp_dict_list)
 
     for sp in sp_dict_list:
         gspecies = get_gspecies_string_from_sp_dict(sp)