Giant spider species named after Beatle

A newly-discovered species of tarantula has been named after John Lennon.

Found in Brazil, Bumba lennoni appears to prefer living A Hard Day’s Night as a mainly nocturnal creature. Like other tarantulas, it has defensive hairs on its body which cause irritation to predators – so they’ll be forced to Let It Be.

The team who discovered the creature are all Fab Four fans. When it came to giving it a name they decided not to hide their love away, but instead honour their hero.

A report in the online science journal Zoo Keys explains: “The specific name is patronymic in honour of John Winston Lennon (1940–1980), the legendary creator of The Beatles, who contributed to make this world a gentler place.”

Next month a guitar used by Lennon to record Beatles classic Paperback Writer is expected to fetch up to £600,000 at auction.

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