Move Over, Tree Named For Leonardo DiCaprio, There's A New Celebrity-Named Living Organism Around
Leonardo DiCaprio already has his ecological accolades. He's a beloved climate advocate, he's produced many a nature documentary in an effort to spread the word, and he's even had a tree named for him in all of his activist glory. But he isn't the only actor who has a living organism named after him, okay? He's not that special. Jeff Daniels — yes, you read that right — now has a parasitic worm named after him, so take that, Leo.
Now that I have your attention, the details: According to Variety, scientists at the University of California, Riverside discovered a new and rare species of worm that attacks and kills tarantulas — and because Daniels' "Arachnophobia" character took on a flocks of deadly spiders back in 1990, the researchers officially named the new worm "Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi." Yes, that's its literal scientific name now.
Believe it or not, there are a whopping 25,000 species of these types of nematodes — a fancy word for worms — but Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi is only the second type ever to be found that infects tarantulas, according to UC Riverside. One of the program's parasitologists, Adler Dillman — the leader of the team that made the Jeff worm discovery — made sure to add why specifically Daniels' character resonated in their name search. In Arachnophobia, he is a "spider killer, which is exactly what these nematodes are."
In true Daniels fashion — maybe it's just me, but it was no surprise to me that he had made a statement — the actor had a few things to say about the unconventional honor.
"When I first heard a new species of nematode had been named after me, I thought, 'Why? Is there a resemblance?' Honestly, I was honored by their homage to me and 'Arachnophobia.' Made me smile. And of course, in Hollywood, you haven't really made it until you've been recognized by those in the field of parasitology."
What's In a (Perfect) Name?
Honestly, this weird bit of film trivia couldn't be more apt, in my opinion, especially considering the film in question. "Arachnphobia" is set in a small California town that is completely overtaken by an aggressive spider species. Daniels plays a man who suffers from arachnophobia — a fear of spiders, as we all know — and is forced to confront that fear head-on when he finds the queen spider nesting in his house.
"I was okay with them. Though I'd rather they weren't crawling on my face," Daniels previously told Entertainment Weekly of how he really felt about working with spiders, specifically a nine-inch Amazonian bird-eating tarantula nicknamed Big Bob. "We had no rapport," the actor explained. "He'd rear up and hiss. They'd feed him a rat every weekend. It would be, 'Have a good Saturday night, Bob. See ya Monday."'
He added, "I had a problem. Especially when the spider wranglers were off camera wearing thick, heavy loves, yelling, 'If he comes after you, we'll be jumping in right away.' But meanwhile, it's the movies, you know, and they're going, 'Let's do it again. Let's see if we can get him to crawl closer to Jeff's hand."'
I think I speak for all of us when I say, thank you for your service, Jeff Daniels.