Joshua Tree spider species named for U2's Bono

[January 19, 2013]  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/

[Associated Press]

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