MUMBAI: A new
spider species
discovered by Mumbai researchers in the central western ghats in
Karnataka has been named after a popular wizard in the
Harry Potter
books, mainly because it resembles the magical hat worn by the wizard.
The spider, which measures barely 7mm in length, has been scientifically named Eriovixia gryffindori, after the fictitious wizard, Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in
J K Rowling’s series of books on boy wizard, Harry Potter. The finding was published on Saturday in the Indian Journal of Arachnology. The credit for this spider discovery goes to researchers Javed Ahmed, Rajashree Khalap and Sumukha Javagal.
“We are very excited to have found this new spider whose shape is very similar to the magical sorting hat worn by the wizard (Gryffindor) in Harry Potter. The discovery was done in the Kans forest area of Karnataka,” said Javed Ahmed. He said the spider’s shape allowed it to resemble a dried leaf, and protect itself from predators. The same team had previously described five new spider species in the last two years.