New spider species named after David Bowie
A new species of hairy yellow spider discovered in Malaysia has been named after the singer David Bowie.
Spider taxonomist Peter Jager from the Senckenberg Forschungsinstitute und Naturmuseen named the new speciesHeteropoda davidbowie in honour of Bowie’s 1972 concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and to raise awareness of the family of spiders he studies.
Heteropoda davidbowie is a member of the family Sparassidae, which are commonly known as the giant crab spiders. They have eight eyes and are often very large, with some representatives, such asHeteropoda maxima reaching 30cm across.
The new species was described in a revision of the huntsman spider genus Heteropoda in which Jager examined all members of the genus and described new ones - several of which were named after famous people.
Other people to have huntsman spiders named in their honour include the political singer Udo Linderberg, with Heteropoda udolindenberg.
The species has already been kept by arachnid fanciers in the pet hobby and has been sold under the name of Orange huntsman spider.
source
