Dave Mustaine Of Megadeth Gets A New Tarantula Species Named After Him

Dave Mustaine has an creepy new namesake. A newly discovered species of tarantula spiders has been given the honor of carrying the singer’s name.

NME reports that the Aphonopelma Davemustainei, as it has been officially named, was found by scientist Brent E. Hendrixson. The species now bearing the name of the Megadeth lead singer was located in Southwestern New Mexico and Southeastern Arizona.

This isn’t the first time scientists have looked to the metal music scene for naming inspiration. According to Loudwire, the 21st century has brought us several new species whose official scientific monikers can be traced to rock legends.

Two such examples were discovered and named by Dr. Mats E. Eriksson. Kalloprion Kilmisteri, a genus of extinct marine polycheaete annelid worm was named in 2006 for Lemmy Kilmister, frontman for the band Motorhead. When Eriksson discovered an an unclassified marine worm this year it was bestowed Kingnites Diamondi after another musician. This time the honor went to vocalist King Diamond.

Dave Mustaine for one seems delighted to share his name with the creepy crawlers. The singer took to his Twitter account on December 12 to share the good news with his followers and fans, according to Contact Music. The tweet reads as follows:

“How cool is this? I got my own tarantula named after me! Totally metal!!!”

His celebratory message came complete with a photo of a picture depicting the tarantula along with its official name.

Formed in 1983 by Mustaine and David Ellefson, Megadeth has released 13 studio albums. Their newest offering came in 2011 with the release of the album Th1rt3en.

What do you think of a tarantula being named after Megadeth singer Dave Mustaine?