The spiders were found mainly in the western part of the United States particularly in California.
The Aptostichus specie is known more commonly as a trap door spider that typically comes out at night to hunt.
Previously there were only 7 of these types of spiders known in this family, but now add up to 40 total.
Species that were previously discovered were named after a few celebrities like Stephen Colbert (Aptostichus stephencolberti), and Angelina Jolie (Aptostichus angelinajolieae).
In these new recent discoveries, researchers have decided to name one in honor of President Barack Obama (Aptostichus barackobamai) who is also known to be a fan of "Spider Man."
Others who were also honored with a spider name are, environmental advocate Edward Abbey (Aptostichus edwardabbeyi), singer of U2, Bono (Aptostihus bonoi), Penn Jillette (Aptostichus pennjillettei), and a character from the movie Star Wars (Aptostichus sarlacc), and last but not least, Cesar Chavez (Aptostichus chavezi).
Jason Bond, who is the director of Auburn University Museum of Natural History, said that the vast majority of these new species were found in California, which has great diversity in its region.
Brenda.Colon@sandiegored.com
Omar.Martinez@sandiegored.com
