A New Spider Species is Named After Aragog!

Jul 13, 2017

Posted by: Ashley Kurtz

Info, Misc, News, Potter News, Science

According to dnaindia.com, researchers at the University of Tehran in Iran have named a recently discovered species of wolf crab spider after Aragog, Hagrid’s giant arachnid that lives in the Forbidden Forest.

The discovery was of a spider that’s an inch long, with two black and three white stripes of hair on its upper body. Its official name is ‘Lycosa aragogi”, and it apparently has a ‘charismatic look’ because of the hairs on the appendages next to its mouth. Because Aragog was based on a wolf spider’s body structure, they decided to name it after him; and it just so happens that there are other similarities as well.

 

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“Since it was also the 20th anniversary of the series, we thought it might be a good idea and celebration of this wonderful franchise,”

Alireza Zamani from the University of Tehran was quoted as saying by ‘Live Science’.

pottermore.com

pottermore.com

Unlike most spiders, the wolf species of spider burrow into the ground instead of building webs, and it also has a natural instinct for nurturing. It will carry eggs on its back in order to bring them into the sunlight, encouraging better development for the baby spiders.

“This nurturing behaviour is not so different from that of Aragog, who ‘loved his colony of ‘Acromantulas’ – a fictional species of spider – so much he wouldn’t stop them from devouring Harry Potter and Ron Weasley,” Zamani said.

Readers may remember that several months ago Leaky reported on another new species of spider that resembled the Sorting Hat named Eriovixia gryffindori here and a newly identified tiny crab deemed Harryplax Severus here.

We’re excited to add this fantastic beast to the ever growing list of creatures named after J.K. Rowlings literary genius!

 





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