Spider to be named for Stephen Colbert

updated 3:21 p.m. ET July 17, 2008

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Talk show host Stephen Colbert has a big decision to make: Which spider should bear his name?

East Carolina University associate professor Jason Bond has offered to name one of 27 new species of trapdoor spider after Colbert, host of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report.”

The biologist recently named one for legendary rocker Neil Young: Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi.

Colbert demanded one, too.

“Where’s my spider?” he said on his show. “I have lots of animals named after me: turtles, eagles, Ontario Junior League hockey mascots. The world demands an eight-legged tribute to Stephen Colbert and I do not mean another barbershop quartet.”

Bond agreed in a telephone interview on the June 24 show.

“So tell me about my spider,” Colbert said. “Does it shoot poison darts? Does it lay eggs in your ears?”

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No. Bond told Colbert he could choose one of 27 trapdoor spiders that lurk underground waiting for prey to pass. His choice will be named “Aptostichus stephencolberti.”

Because Colbert doesn’t pronounce the “t” in his last name, it will be silent in the spider’s name, too.

“Because names are important, it is quite an honor ... I wouldn’t name a species after him if I didn’t think it was appropriate,” Bond told The Daily Reflector in Greenville.

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