Researchers at the University of Vermont have named a new species of spider after the state’s junior U.S. Senator.
UVM Professor of Biology and spider expert Ingi Agnarsson and 4 students have discovered 15 new species of so-called “smiley-faced” spiders native to the Caribbean.
They have named them after Senator Bernie Sanders, the Obamas and other celebrities.
It was thought the spintharus spiders, which have a smiley face pattern on their abdomen, were one species. But the research team led by UVM researchers identified more than a dozen unique species of the spiders.