''Scytodes kumonga'' is a species of spider in the
Scytodidae
Spitting spiders (Scytodidae) is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by John Blackwall in 1864. It contains over 250 species in five genera, of which ''Scytodes'' is the best-known.
Description
Like recluse spiders and coneweb sp ...
family native to
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. It was described in 2020.
[ The specific name ''kumonga'' refers to the spider kaiju ]Kumonga
is a mutated, enormous spider-like kaiju that first appears in Toho's 1967 film ''Son of Godzilla'' and went on to appear in the films ''Destroy All Monsters'', ''All Monsters Attack'' (through stock footage) and ''Godzilla: Final Wars''. In the ...
, a recurring monster in the ''Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films prod ...
'' franchise by Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...
which can spit silk in a similar manner to spitting spiders to ensnare opponents, whose name in turn is derived from the Japanese word for 'spider', . Kumonga's binomial name in ''Godzilla Singular Point
is a Japanese anime television series co-produced by the animation studios Bones and Orange. Licensed by Netflix and directed by Atsushi Takahashi, the series premiered on March 25, 2021 on Netflix in Japan, and on Tokyo MX and other channels ...
'', ''Kumonga scytodes'', pays homage to this species.
See also
* '' Agroeca angirasu'', a species of sac spider named after the Kaiju Anguirus
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', which first appeared in ''Godzilla Raids Again'' (1955), the second film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise. Anguirus is the first monster to be shown engaging in combat with Godzilla in a film. Since then, the ...
also native to Iran, classified in 2021
References
Scytodidae
Spiders described in 2020
Endemic fauna of Iran
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