Lights! Camera! Arachnids?
With Halloween around the corner, you may be interested to know that the creepy-crawlies descending as home decor or even haunting your nightmares share the same name as some of pop culture’s most beloved characters.
Sure, these eight-legged creatures might not be as cute (or as warm) as some of their TV and movie counterparts, but they demand attention nonetheless. After all, Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones shares his name with a snake, while his Star Wars bestie Chewbacca shares one with a species of moths. One can argue there’s plenty of room for other creatures, right?
Meet the spiders that have recently been named after figures we know and love.
1. Venomius tomhardyi
Swinging first onto the list is none other than a spider with a nod to Tom Hardy’s gooey alter ego in the Marvel franchise Venom, who made his first appearance in May 1988’s The Amazing Spider-Man #300, after an alien symbiote bonded with Hardy’s character Eddie Brock.
The discovery was made in September, when a study published in Evolutionary Systematics revealed that a newly discovered Australian spider had been given the name by researchers who found the specimen on a recent field trip in southern Australia.
“The species epithet is a patronym in reference to the English actor Edward Thomas ‘Tom’ Hardy, who plays the character Eddie Brock and his alter-ego Venom in the superhero films of the same name,” the study says. “This genus-group name is a reference to the head of the character Venom, with conspicuous black spots, that resembles the abdomen of our species, specifically the male holotype.”
The new species is being preserved at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Tasmania, Australia. While Venomius tomhardyi is indeed venomous, researchers say it causes no harm to humans.
2. Ochyrocera varys
A spider always pays its debts, or so we’d imagine if the realm of Game of Thrones extended to the insect kingdom. With a nod to the cunning Lord Varys, the character from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and HBO’s Game of Thrones, Ochyrocera varys has offered no clues as to whether, like its namesake, is good at finding favor with the Mother of Dragons.
First recorded in the caves of northern Brazil in 2018, Ochyrocera varys, as researchers cited in a study published in Zoo Keys, hasn’t been the focus of much research given that spiders face threats of extinction due to mining activities in the area.
Still, we’re confident Ochyrocera varys will find a way to survive no matter the costs.
Lord Varys, played by Conleth Hill, is often referred to as “Varys” or “the Spider.” He’s cunning and resourceful and tends to stay in the shadows like any creepy-crawler would.
3. Ochyrocera charlotte
Weaving tales of friendship and farmyard shenanigans, this spider pays homage to the cherished character in the children’s book Charlotte’s Web. Sadly, much like our friend Ochyrocera varys, the species is also found in Northern Brazil and faces similar threats of extinction because of mining.
In the book by E.B. White, a spider named Charlotte hatches a plan to save a friendly pig named Wilbur from being slaughtered by spinning words in her web that describe him with phrases like “Some Pig,” “Terrific” and “Radiant,” creating a sense of wonder and amazement among the locals. The strategy makes Wilbur famous and therefore seen as too special to kill.
Who’s to say if Ochyrocera charlotte is equally talented at spelling?
4. Eriovixia gryffindori (and its cousin Aname aragog)
Don’t be surprised if these spiders yell “Bloody hell, Harry!” Named after two of the mystical characters in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, these insects are bound to have some magical surprises.
Meet E. gryffindori, a spidey with a “sorting hat”-shaped body named after the talking hat found at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Discovered in the Western Ghats mountain range of southwestern India, the tiny brown arachnid’s odd body shape rises from a wide base to a tapered, bent peak above its back. The look is uncanny to the sorting hat — even Rowling approved the name in a 2016 tweet.
And let’s not forget Aname aragog, named after Aragog, the giant spider found in the Forbidden Forest. With downward-facing fangs, it certainly stays true to its namesake.
While these arachnids spin silk to line their burrows, they don’t build elaborate webs like other groups of spiders, the Western Australian Museum says. Rather, A. aragog is quite sensitive and lives underground in burrows, or in wetter parts of Australia.
5. Anelosimus dude
This dude is just trying to live his life, similar to Jeff Bridges’s character Jeff Lebowski (“the Dude”) in The Big Lebowski, directed by the Coen brothers. He rolls in the Tanzanian rainforests and was first spotted by Danish researcher Nikolaj Scharff, who made them available to evolutionary scientist Ingi Agnarsson, in 2006, as part of his graduate research, according to Wired.
A. dude and its cousin Anelosimus biglebowski are part of a genus known for being, well, chill, Agnarsson told Wired in March: “These Anelosimus spiders are unusual in that they’re tolerant of one another,” he said. “If you look at spiders as a whole, Anelosimus spiders like A. biglebowski and A. dude are much more laid-back … as long as you’re not prey.”
Clearly, Agnarsson is a fan of the Coen brothers, as he felt like he “needed to honor this movie in some way,” he said. “I look to the Dude for the way he goes through life and doesn’t get too bothered about things that are going on. When the world looks a little crazy, you’ve just got to take a step back and chill.”
But wait, there’s more …
Swinging in from the skyscrapers of New York City, these eight-legged creatures have some superhero credentials!
Discovered in 2015, two spiders named Filistata maguirei and Pritha garfieldi were found crawling in the southern parts of Iran. Named after Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, respectively, both species come from the family Filistatidae (also known as “crevice weavers”).
As the name suggests, Filistata maguirei and Pritha garfieldi enjoy building their webs inside crevices, Screen Rant reported. And while they’re indeed venomous, researchers say they pose no risk to humans. After all, they’re just your friendly neighborhood spiders, right?
No word on whether Tom Holland will get a spider of his own, but here’s hoping!
