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Behold, Stormtroopis muisca.
Carlos Perafan
▼ Perhaps the greatest pleasure in science is naming a new species. You can name animals after your loved ones (or, let's be honest, yourself), insects after their own weird genitals, and lichens after Lady Gaga. When you've made such a discovery, the world is truly yourCrassostrea virginicaoyster (itself named for the colony of Virginia, which was in turn most likely named for Elizabeth I of England, the virgin queen).
The latest spelunkers in the depths of creative nomenclature are spider biologist Carlos Perafan, Fernando Perez-Miles, and William Galvis. While working in the Andes mountains, the trio discovered six species of bald-legged spiders that had never previously been seen in Colombia. According to a new study, published Thursday in the journalZooKeys,four of the spiders had no clear genus, so the researchers invented their own. Inspired by the reportedly clone-like similarities between the members of this new group, they christened the arachnidsStormtropis,for the white-clad soldiers inStar Wars.

Close-ups of theStormtropis colima.
Courtesy of Perafán, Galvis & Pérez-Miles
These new critters are part of the intraorder Mygalomorphae, (▪ ▪ ▪)
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