June 19, 2013

Joshua Tree spider species named for U2's Bono

BY: AP Staff Writer JANUARY 19, 2013 | MODIFIED: JANUARY 19, 2013 AT 7:46 AM
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Photo -   FILE - In this Friday, May 18, 2012 file photo, Bono, the Irish rock star and activist, speaks at the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security following an appearance by President Barack Obama at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. It appeared Bono and arachnids didn't mix when his "Spider-Man" musical had a rough Broadway run, but that didn't keep a biologist from naming an actual spider species after the U2 singer. Jason Bond of Auburn University has identified 33 new species of trapdoor spider, including three of them in the California desert at Joshua Tree National Park. The park's namesake is featured in the title and cover of U2's 1987 album, "The Joshua Tree." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - In this Friday, May 18, 2012 file photo, Bono, the Irish rock star and activist, speaks at the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security following an appearance by President Barack Obama at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. It appeared Bono and arachnids didn't mix when his "Spider-Man" musical had a rough Broadway run, but that didn't keep a biologist from naming an actual spider species after the U2 singer. Jason Bond of Auburn University has identified 33 new species of trapdoor spider, including three of them in the California desert at Joshua Tree National Park. The park's namesake is featured in the title and cover of U2's 1987 album, "The Joshua Tree." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
< p>JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — It appeared Bono and arachnids didn't mix when his "Spider-Man" musical had a rough Broadway run, but that didn't keep a biologist from naming an actual spider species after the U2 singer.

Jason Bond of Alabama's Auburn University has identified 33 new species of trapdoor spider, including three of them in the California desert at Joshua Tree National Park. The park's namesake is featured in the title and cover of U2's 1987 album, "The Joshua Tree."

The Riverside Press-Enterprise (http://bit.ly/UWsRjW ) reports that Bond named two of the spiders after Indian tribes and one, A. bonoi, after Bono.

Bond has named other spider species after Angelina Jolie, Cesar Chavez and Stephen Colbert.

The trapdoor spider, found in the Southwestern U.S., is so-named because it makes a hatch to hide from prey.

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Information from: The Press-Enterprise, http://www.pe.com

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