Abba, the spider: Australian spider researchers have immortalized the Swedish cult band in the name of a group of ball weaver spiders. Abba is one of the favorite bands of the two scientists Volker Framenau and Pedro Castanheira from Murdoch University in Perth, according to a statement from the university. So far, only one species is known from the newly named genus, Abba transversa. The only three to four millimeters large spider is native to the coastal areas of New South Wales and Queensland.
"The genre name honors the Swedish pop group ABBA, their songs and the subsequent musicals Mamma Mia! (2008) and Mamma Mia - Here We Go again! (2018) provided hours of entertainment for the authors," according to the study by the two researchers in the journal "Evolutionary Systematics".
The species had already been discovered in Australia in 1912, but only now has it been scientifically correctly described. Previously, it had been assigned to the genus Araneus, which had been used by earlier spider researchers as a "dumping ground" for species that could not be clearly assigned.
230 species known in the family of ball weaver spiders
According to the two researchers, there are currently 230 described species in the family of ball weaver spiders (Araneidae), which are divided into 46 genera. For the description of the group, 15,12 specimens in Australian museums and overseas collections were evaluated in 000 years. "A total of just over 4000,10 spider species are described in Australia and, according to estimates, between 000,15 and 000,<> species are still unnamed," Framenau told the German Press Agency.
Spiders of the family Araneidae are known to build spherical webs. The new genus differs from other groups of the family by two dark spots on the body and by typical hairs on the first pair of legs of males.
Framenau and Castanheira had already shown a preference for special names: In honor of football and Australian sports legend Johnny Warren, they named a ball weaver spider species Socca johnnywarreni, as Murdoch University reported at the end of last year. The Art Socca arena now also exists.
According to the university, the wives of both researchers had already been immortalized in species names. Naming spiders can be fascinating, Castanheira is quoted as saying – as with Socca elvispresleyi: "When we saw that some of the male genitalia looked exactly like Elvis' hair, there was only one name we could give it."