The naming chance was too sensible to pass up, the researchers aforementioned. The animatronic puppet created for the picture show "Harry Potter and therefore the Chamber of Secrets" was supported the anatomy of a hunting spider, aforementioned study co-researcher Alireza Zamani, a postgraduate of animal biosystematy at the University of Asian nation|Iranian capital|national capital} in Iran.
"We discerned that there was associate extreme similarity between our spider and Aragog as he was delineated within the second film," Zamani told Live Science in associate email. "Since it absolutely was conjointly the twentieth day of the total 'Harry Potter' series, we tend to thought it'd be a decent plan and celebration of this glorious franchise" [to name the spider when Aragog]
Iranian bug-hunter Alireza Naderi noticed the new spider close to its burrow in a very mountainous region of southeastern Iran's Kerman Province. Zamani noted that Naderi found the spider (a feminine — the researchers have nevertheless to seek out a male) on Gregorian calendar month twenty six, 2016, virtually nineteen years to the day when Aragog died (April twenty, 1997 within the world of the book), per the "Harry Potter" series, by J.K. Rowling.
Researchers named the new spider Lycosa aragogi. it's a 1-inch-long (2.6 centimeters) body (excluding the legs), with 2 black and 3 white stripes of setae, or hairs, on its higher body, called the cephalothorax.
The arthropod conjointly has black setae on the appendages by its mouth, "giving the spider a attractive look," whereas its abdomen is roofed with black and white setae, aforementioned Zamani, United Nations agency co-wrote the study with Anton Nadolny, a taxonomer United Nations agency focuses on spiders at the Institute of Marine scientific research of Russian Academy of Sciences in Sevastopol, Russia.
Zamani noted that enormous wolf spiders do not build webs, however rather square measure called "wandering spiders" that keep in their burrows throughout the day and hunt in the dead of night, stalking their prey. Most live for concerning 3 years, he said.
Large wolf spiders have sensible vision compared to most different spiders. Four of a wolf spider's eight eyes have a layer of tissue called associate iridescent tapetum behind the retinas. "After the sunshine shines into the attention, it reflects from the tapetum back onto the membrane, creating the eyes shine within the darkness, the same as what we tend to observe in another animals, like cats," Zamani aforementioned. "This helps arachnologists to gather them [the spiders] at midnight, employing a torch [flashlight] set at our eye level."
Large wolf spiders conjointly exhibit an excellent degree of maternal care: They carry their egg sacs on their bodies and sporadically expose the developing spiders to lightweight and warmth from the sun for higher development, Zamani aforementioned. Once the spiderlings square measure born, the mother keeps them on her back and feeds them for the primary few weeks.
This nurturing behavior is not thus totally different from that of Aragog, United Nations agency "loved his colony of 'Acromantulas' [a fictional species of spider] most he would not stop them from greedy Harry Potter and Ron Weasley," Zamani aforementioned.
Even though Aragog is taken into account as associate antagonist within the series, "I take into account him as family-loving and constant, as he would not hurt his ex-owner Rubeus Hagrid," Zamani aforementioned.
