A symbiosis of film and science: a new species of venomous spider has been discovered in Australia and named after Marvel anti-hero Tom Hardy

A new species of spider discovered by arachnologists in Australia has been named Venomius tomhardyi because of the special colouration on the insect's body, which resembles the image of Venom, the symbiote alien from the Spider-Man film universe.

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The apparent resemblance to the anti-hero inspired the authors of the study, published in the journal Evolutionary Systematics, to name the new spider genus Venomius and give the only currently known species the name V. tomhardyi in honour of actor Tom Hardy, who played the role of Eddie Brock in the films.

This is not the first example of the scientific community taking inspiration from the popular world of science fiction. Earlier this year, a newly discovered snake species in the Peruvian mountains was named Tachymenoides harrisonfordi in honour of actor Harrison Ford, known for his role as Indiana Jones. The popular actor also served as the name inspiration for a species of ant (Pheidole harrisonfordi) and spider (Calponia harrisonfordi).

Similarly, in early 2023, it was decided to name the butterfly Saurona in honour of the Dark Lord Sauron from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The decision was prompted by the patterns on her wings, which were reminiscent of the flaming eye depicted over the fortress of Barad-dûr in Peter Jackson's film adaptation. By the same token, the star furthest away from us was discovered in 2022. It was named after the character Earendil from Tolkien's The Silmarillion.

Now both Tom Hardy and his anti-hero Venom have been given the opportunity to have a species or genus of spider named after them. Venom will also play an important role in the upcoming PlayStation exclusive game "Spider-Man 2" from Insomniac Studios.

Source: IGN