Live David Bowie Web Spider (Heteropoda davidbowie)

Heteropoda davidbowie “David Bowie spider” is a web spider from the family of giant crab spiders (Sparassidae). This species was named after the late British pop musician David-Bowie. However, the reason for this is not because their discoverers were a David Bowie fan. But they would like to reach attention, in order to point to the species extinction. Worldwide countless habitats are destroyed and with them the partly still undiscovered animal species. With the naming one wants to build a bridge to people who have no relation to insects and spiders to sensitize them.

Bowie's the namesake for a species of ferocious-looking spider indigenous to Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia. The Heteropoda davidbowie was so named in 2008 by arachnologist Peter Jäger, the current head of Arachnology at the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Frankfurt, Germany.

A spider has to be pretty extraordinary to be named after a British rock star. But Heteropoda davidbowie, whose name comes from the bright orange hairs on its red-brown body and legs, fits the bill. (During the early 1970s, Bowie sported a similarly colored mane and fronted a band called the Spiders from Mars.)

Bowie's hair was equally vibrant in the early '70s during his Ziggy Stardust phase. The backing band for the Ziggy Stardust character was called the Spiders From Mars, and Bowie also kicked off side two of his 1987 album "Never Let Me Down" with the song "Glass Spider."

Actual photo of specimen for sale /June 21/24