An arachnid researcher recently identified 33 new species of trapdoor spiders (genus Aptostichus). You might recognize the inspiration for some of the eight-legged creatures’ Latin names.
Here are a few:
- A. barackobamai
- A. bonoi
- A. chavezi
- A. dorothealangeae

A. barackobamai (Photo: Jason Bond)
Did you guess who was who? Perhaps the first and last one in the list were easier — President Barack Obama and Depression-era photographer Dorothea Lange. The middle two represent U2′s lead singer Bono and activist Cesar Chavez.
Try your hand at these two celebrities, which were discovered ahead of this new list of 33:
- A. stephencolberti
- A. angelinajolieae

A view of A. stephencoberti from many angles. (Image: Jason Bond)
The taxonomic fun the Auburn University arachnologist Jason Bond was having didn’t stop at people either. Here are a couple other species with which he had a sense of humor.
- A. aguacaliente (agua caliente or “hot water” in Spanish)
- A. sarlacc (Star Wars monster the Sarlacc H/T Smithsonian Magazine for pointing this one out)
As for the spiders themselves, Bond described them as “ambush predators,” according to Wired.
“They wait at burrow entrances at night, until some dull-witted insect comes over. Then they jump out, bite it, and take it to their burrow. This particular group, they pack its carcass down into the bottom of the burrow,” Wired reported Bond saying.
The whole of Bond’s study was published last week in Zoo Keys.
(H/T: Daily Mail)






















































































































Comments (54)
Fubar Frog
Dec. 25, 2012 at 4:21pmThe first thing I thought of was the old Who song, “Boris the Spider”.
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yougottabekidding
Dec. 25, 2012 at 3:54pmWhat’s the matter no new snakes?
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CulperGang
Dec. 25, 2012 at 3:46pmwow! how demeaning tot the arachnids!! they are natures natural pesticides eating other bugs…..so if they are in your house just reclocate them where you can’t see them.
Liberals are natural born reptiles. Sneaky, ravenously preying on the weak.
Obama is a small black viper: deadly to America.
heres a great vid on bam: from a patriot native american.
http://www.badeagle.com/2012/01/25/the-south-has-risen-obama-will-fall/
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bannedfromCNN
Dec. 26, 2012 at 9:45amIn tha case of Obama, mor appropriate would have been ‘bathhousicus cockroachii’.
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denkat56
Dec. 25, 2012 at 12:07pmThese spiders do their attacking from eons of self preservation. Obama touts his knowledge, and his attitude has proven of his contempt of his fellow man. All with the use of illegal drugs and flaunting it to Americas youth. He should have his own Latin name, but why hurt the spiders reputation with an inssult
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mrnsnper
Dec. 25, 2012 at 12:06pmobama is a stink bug
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Lt_Scrounge
Dec. 25, 2012 at 1:06pmI think a variation of Dung Beetle would be a lot closer to Obamao than a spider.
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Gorp
Dec. 25, 2012 at 1:33pmCome on now. You guys are really cutting bugs down. That’s not nice…
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Yeah_Buddy
Dec. 26, 2012 at 2:04pmBlood sucking leech leader?
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rsanchez1
Dec. 25, 2012 at 11:43amI exploit you, still you love me
I tell you one and one makes three
I’m the cult of personality
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samsilver
Dec. 25, 2012 at 12:06pmlisten to those guys over and over in my teens.one of the most under rated bands of the 80′s
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CanteenBoy
Dec. 25, 2012 at 12:33pm“… when a leader speaks, that leader lies …”
Merry Christmas!!
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Kalidor835
Dec. 26, 2012 at 1:31amActually in the first time it’s, “When a mirror speaks the reflection lies”. The second time it’s, “When a leader speaks that leader dies”. I was just listening to the song earlier. ;)
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/living+colour/cult+of+personality_20084475.html
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ArmedAndReallyPissed
Dec. 25, 2012 at 11:21amDo we know of a Spider that Murders other Spiders and then Lies about it ? That would be a good match.
Do you suppose the Families of the four Americans MURDERED in Benghazi are having a wonderful Christmas ? This Communist Pig doesn’t deserve to be named after anything. Not even a hot steaming pile of animal Dung.
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rsanchez1
Dec. 25, 2012 at 11:44amThere are spiders, the female murders and beheads the male after luring the male with promises of mating and a good time. I think that fits close enough.
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jessieH
Dec. 25, 2012 at 10:38amI can see the resemblence.
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whatthecrazy
Dec. 25, 2012 at 10:27amMerry Christmas everybody!!!!!!!!!
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Walkabout
Dec. 25, 2012 at 10:16amDoes naming stuff helter-skelter make it easier for students to remember? Would it not be easier to give new species or fossils descriptive names.
But naming ugly looking spiders after Stephen Colbert & barack obama is awesome. Naming a snake species after obama or Colbert would be very appropriate.
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whatthecrazy
Dec. 25, 2012 at 10:29amAgree 100%
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Eastinfection
Dec. 25, 2012 at 10:13amWhen i was a kid, i used to catch other bugs, then throw them in spider webs just to see if the spider would wrap it up or cut it loose.
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whatthecrazy
Dec. 25, 2012 at 10:31amMe too also tried that with my kids,then they would try to unravel the poor insect because they thought it was mean.lol
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The-Monk
Dec. 25, 2012 at 10:50amMorning East,
What? No recipe for baked Spider? LOL
Merry Tuesday. : )
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Eastinfection
Dec. 25, 2012 at 11:06amHey MONK!
Happy Festivus to you as well!
I try to stick to mammals and fishies with my recipes but i’ll see if i can whip something up for you ;)
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Eastinfection
Dec. 25, 2012 at 11:13amMonk..
best i could do on a busy day:
Spider Salad
Steam spiders live (safe method of both asphyxiating and keeping crisp and fresh)
Chop the legs off the larger spiders and quarter.
Prepare a bed of romaine lettuce, parsley, Portobello mushrooms in season (chopped), radishes, and scallions.
Toss in approximately 1 cup chopped spiders, much as you would in a seafood salad, then a generous amount of olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and fresh ground pepper.
Bon appetit!
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The-Monk
Dec. 25, 2012 at 12:05pmThanks East…. LOL
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Gorp
Dec. 25, 2012 at 2:01pmYummy! Now I’m hungry all over again.
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ktmrider1
Dec. 25, 2012 at 9:24amI think its awful to disrespect these spiders by naming after obama
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GuruMeditation
Dec. 25, 2012 at 9:40amAgreed.
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Dec. 25, 2012 at 9:46amI will agree with that.
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Mandolin44
Dec. 25, 2012 at 9:20amIs the one named A. barackobamai, the new one they just discovered in Florida? Hides in the Toilet, and then bites you in the ass when to sit, and is more toxic than a black widow…..
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AllAmericanGirl22
Dec. 25, 2012 at 9:19amThat thing creeps me out as much as the real one!
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RIGS
Dec. 25, 2012 at 9:09amA “CARP” would be more to the liking a bottom feeder…………………..
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taintso
Dec. 25, 2012 at 9:06amThe ‘Barking Spider’ should be in honer of Obama.
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jungle J
Dec. 25, 2012 at 8:59amObama is more of an opportunistic cancer. Hitler and Stalin were similar.
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YAHSHUARULES
Dec. 25, 2012 at 9:19amYou got that right! But do you know how right!
do you know who Fabians (with logo of wolf in sheep’s clothing), Frankfurt School, Antonio Gramsci, Mattechine Society, Alinksi (who dedicated his book “Rules for Radicals to Lucifer), which Obama taught in Chicago for years, Committees of Correspondence are, SDS, Weathermen, Rathke, Ayres? Connect all the dots that allowed Obama to waltz into the White House…
All part of the Agenda to create an America so corrupt it stinks and to drive this culture in a direction designed to destroy it. If you don’t know all this you need to find out!
This is the most comprehensive, best movie I have seen pulling all this
together. Watch it. Share it. It is free on line for the moment
https://vimeo.com/52009124
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doncorleone
Dec. 25, 2012 at 3:26pmBolsheviks really don’t stray from the gameplan. I believe it’s in their hardwiring “upstairs”. I believe he’s more like lenin, present yourself as a moderate, then pull the rug out on the stupid when he’s achieved his goals, then use them as axle grease. Another facet of this is, what I call, “after-market” cynicism. The lefts’ used the same responses towards their antagonists for well over a century now. Marx didn’t create it, he perfected that technique, our state-run’s and politicians continue to spew it,and even though it’s as glove and well-worn as it is, it’s working better than ever.
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SaturdaysWarrior76
Dec. 25, 2012 at 8:58amThose pictures creep me out! Yikes!
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Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Dec. 25, 2012 at 8:55amEight legged freaks, the lot of them. Their classification as ambush predators is just that much creepier, and amplified when compared against other predators like Chavez and Obama.
I do have to wonder if the A. stephencolberti was so named because the markings on its thorax resembled the board Colbert holds up on his show putting things on notice and dead to me.
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The-Monk
Dec. 25, 2012 at 12:08pmHi LPHP’s,
Merry Christmas and I hope the new year brings you wondrous scientific achievements and insights.
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E. Goldstein
Dec. 25, 2012 at 8:55amJason Bond has the sense of humor that Stewart, Colbert and their writers wish they had.
BTW Colbert should be pronounced as Cold-Bert as he is the animated version of the puppet Bert.
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Noonien_Soong
Dec. 25, 2012 at 8:52amThere is a much more fitting example, a cross hybrid between an Armadillo and a Weimaraner. An Armadillo because when cornered he rolls up in defense, As a Weimaraner a small royal hunting dog, small goes after bigger prey larger than himself.
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susan126
Dec. 25, 2012 at 8:46amI hate spiders…..
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whatthecrazy
Dec. 25, 2012 at 10:25amHad two nightmares my whole life and one was of a huge spider when i was a little girl so like you i hate spiders.i try to reason that they can’t help being hideous after all they were born that way.Barack however chooses to be hideous.Merry Christmas
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Joyzee
Dec. 25, 2012 at 8:32amcreepy crawly slithery political people like Biden..*
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KingCanon
Dec. 25, 2012 at 8:25amSpiders are wonderful creatures! :O
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JACKTHETOAD
Dec. 25, 2012 at 9:00amIndeed. Arachnids are cool.
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oldasdirt
Dec. 25, 2012 at 9:42amAround the farm here I let them stay. They eat a lot of bugs,and I like that about them.
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nocommie
Dec. 25, 2012 at 8:17amBaraka Obama is more of a reptile.Listen to the hiss when he speaks,cannot be trusted,slithers.There is a reason why people do not keep rattle snakes as pets.
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taintso
Dec. 25, 2012 at 8:35amIt is not hiss it is a lisp he was one of Rev. Wrights Basement Boys.
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crackerone
Dec. 25, 2012 at 1:23pmThe nut sack is too big. Should have named it Michelle.
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