jeffdanielsi has been shown to be infectious with tarantula. Credit: Adler Dillman.
The species of worm that kills tarantulas has been named after American actor, musician and producer Jeff Daniels.
One of the most abundant animals on Earth is the nematodes, which have more than 25,000 species. This is the second time that a person has been found to have the same disease.
Daniels' character in Arachnophobia saved a town from a deadly spider invasion.
"He plays a spider killer in the film, which is exactly what the nematodes are," said Adler Dillman, who led the team that discovered the nematode.
When I heard that a new species of nematode had been named after me, I wondered why. Daniels asked if there was a resemblance in his remarks to UCR. They paid homage to me and Arachnophobia. It made me happy. You haven't really made it in Hollywood until you've been recognized for your work in the field of parasitology.
The Journal of Parasitology published the team's work.
In September, a wholesale tarantula breeder contacted Dillman for help identifying a mysterious infection in some of their tarantulas. There was an odd white mass around the mouth area. The white areas were immediately recognized as nematodes by the teacher.
Scientists in Europe identified the first nematodes on tarantulas. The research only looked at the worms, not the worms found on the spiders.
The strange behaviors of the tarantulas are caused by them being bitten. The appendages that control the spider's fangs stop working.
Jeff Daniels, an American actor, played a famous spider-killing character. Credit: Adler Dillman.
It may take months because tarantulas don't eat very often. They will die of starvation if they get this infection.
The team learned how the worms reproduce, and where the spiders reside, in addition to confirmation of the lethal jeffdanielsi infection.
Shemaphrodites are mostly self-fertilizing and produce their own sperm and eggs. A single hermaphrodite can produce 160 babies. The lifespan in the laboratory is 11 days. It's not clear how long they can live on a spider.
The research team found that the worms only lived in the mouth area, and that they did not cause damage to the exterior of the tarantulas.
It's not clear if the spider is fed by the nematodes. It's possible that they feed on the bugs. The researchers ate e. coli when they grew the worms in the lab.
One mystery that remains to be solved is how the nematodes are able to change the behavior of the tarantulas.
Additional studies are planned to understand this, as well as how breeders can treat or even prevent infections.
Though it is rare, the identification of a tarantula parasites says more about the number of people that study the spider than it does about the unique nature of the parasites.
Thematodes have been around for hundreds of millions of years. He said that they've evolved to spread their disease to every kind of host on the planet. Any animal you know of on planet Earth can be affected by a Nematode.
There is more information about TarantobelUS JEFFDANIELSI N.SP. The Journal of Parasitology has a paper titled A NEMATODE PARASITE OF TARANTULAS.
Scientists discovered a new worm named after actor Jeff Daniels.
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