Tom Hardy’s Venom inspires name for new genus of Australian spider

Australian scientists have named a new species of spider after Spider-Man villain Venom and the actor who played him, Tom Hardy.

Naming things in the scientific context is an important part of the process. The naming of a species is essential in identifying and understanding the species, and the name alone can communicate a lot of information to scientists.

That doesn’t mean things have to be boring, though. In fact, several names chosen by scientists are just fun jokes about pop culture, other animals, or even the scientists themselves. 

Comic book characters are fairly common picks for naming inspiration, which shouldn’t be surprising given how many comic book superheroes are modeled after animals. Now, Australian scientists have named a new spider after a popular Marvel anti-hero.

Australian scientists name a new orb-weaver spider species after Marvel’s Venom

Dubbed Venomius Tomhardyi, the new species of orb-weaver is named after Spider-Man’s arch-nemesis and occasional ally, Venom. In a journal published on the open-access resource Evolutionary Systematics, scientists say the species is “named after the Marvel Comics’ character ‘Venom,’ created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane, whose full first appearance was in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man #300’ (published in May 1988), after an alien symbiote bonded with the character Eddie Brock.”

The species received its name because of black spots across its abdomen. The scientists felt the spots were reminiscent of Venom’s design.

While the Genus name has comic book inspirations, the new species Venomius Tomhardyi is also named for English actor Tom Hardy, who portrayed the character in two big screen outings – Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage – as well as a cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home. He’ll be reprising the role for an upcoming third film. 

It’s not uncommon to see a new species named after a comic book character. In 2020, several new species of Australian robber flies were named after Marvel characters, including Deadpool, Thor, and Black Widow, as well as Stan Lee himself. Multiple species are also named after Batman, including a species of catfish and a species of wasp. 

Sony Pictures

Tom Hardy portrays Eddie Brock/Venom.

Ironically, the Venomius tomhardyi marks the first Spider-Man character to have a species named after it. There have, however, been two species of spider – Filistata maguirei and Pritha garfieldi- named after Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, respectively. 

Ironically, the naming of the Venomius tomhardyi coincides with the anniversary of Venom’s debut in Amazing Spider-Man #300, which was recently announced to be receiving a facsimile reprint. 

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