Two new spider species named after 'Spider-Man' actors

When arachnologists Yuri M. Marusik (from Magadan in Russia) and Alireza Zamani (from Tehran in Iran) took it upon themselves to closely study two newly discovered and unnamed species of crevice weaver spiders (family Filistatidae), they knew that with that power came the responsibility of giving the spiders suitable names. 

 

Fortunately, they also realized that they didn’t need to look too far for some "friendly neighborhood" inspiration.

 

Named after Hollywood stars Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield — the actors who played the role of the Marvel Comics character Peter Parker/Spider-Man in their respective live-action film franchises — the two spiders, Filistata maguirei and Pritha garfieldi, were described by Marusik and Zamani in a research paper published in the online journal Arthropoda Selecta.

^{Filistata maguirei}
 

F. maguirei possesses a dark brown anterior part on its abdomen. The males of the species can be distinguished from other spiders in the Filistatidae family thanks to its dorsally bent embolus with fine ridges; the females, on the other hand, are recognizable due to their bean-shaped (as opposed to globular) receptacles. The second species, P. garfieldi, has a receptacle head with a laterally bent terminal part, while its globular head is not attached to a distinct stem. 

^{Pritha garfieldi}
 

As Zamani wrote in an email to pop culture and comics website ComicBook.com, the spiders, which can reportedly go for extended periods of time without any food or water at hand, are “mostly nocturnal, prefer living in crevices and holes in rocks and walls and are common in and around houses and may also be found in under barks and tree logs.”

 

Zamani added that Iran was discovered to carry an “unusually high diversity” of the Filistatidae family. Both of the newly named species are endemic to Iran, found in Hormozgan Province’s Geno Biosphere Reserve in southern Iran and the Alborz Mountains in northern Iran’s Tehran Province.

 

While the two species are venomous, they supposedly pose no serious risk to humans. Sadly, it also seems highly unlikely that a bite from either spider could give its victim enhanced strength, speed, and agility. — TJD, GMA News