Hey, don’t step on that spider! It might be a Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi. A what? Yes, it is true – rocker Neil Young has had a spider named after him.
Jason Bond, a biologist at East Carolina University, has discovered a new species of the trapdoor spider. When you discover a new species, you get the honor of naming it. Bond’s favorite musician is Neil Young, so voila – the Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi was born.
Bond explained that while there are strict rules about how you name your new species, you could use any name you like as long as you follow those rules. Bond said, “With regards to Neil Young, I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice.” The new species was discovered in Jefferson County, Alabama in 2007. Bond said he could tell the Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi trapdoor spider, which is called such because they build trap doors to close up off their living area, was a different species by the differences in its genitalia. DNA samples confirmed that it was indeed a new species within the trapdoor genus.
Young started his music career with Buffalo Springfield in the 60s before becoming a member of Crosby, Still, Nash & Young then branching out into a solo career. Young is the writer of such songs about social injustices as “Ohio” (about the Kent State shootings in 1970), “Southern Man” (about racism in the South), “The Needle and the Damage Done” (about his friends that suffered from heroin addiction), and “Philadelphia” (the soundtrack to the movie of the same name about a lawyer unduly dismissed for being HIV positive).
This is not the first time a scientist has named a species after a musician. Earlier this year, Roy Orbison was honored by having a beetle named after him – the Orectochilus orbisonorum. And, in 2001, a species of dinosaur, Masiakasaurus knopfleri, was named after Dire Strait lead singer Mark Knopfler because the paleontologists were listening to Dire Straits when it was discovered.