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White - armored Stormtroopers in the " Star Wars " movies are practically indistinguishable and near impossible to tell apart . That eldritch law of similarity recently inspired a team of scientist who had discovered a new spider genus ; the arachnids were so alike each other in size and marking that the research worker named them after the helmeted troops , calling the creaturesStormtropis .
These eight - legged Stormtroopers belong to a family dubbed bald-headed - legged spiders , which are native to South America and Central America .
One of the newly described bald-legged spider species,Stormtropis muisca.
Like the Stormtroopers , the spiders " are very like to each other , with some capacity for disguise " ; the sci - fi soldier and the newfound wanderer are also alike in being somewhat clumsy , harmonize to the study . However , there is no grounds ( yet ) that the wanderer , like their moving-picture show namesake , are severe at hitting go prey with a chargeman . [ 9 Animals with ' Star Wars'-Inspired public figure ]
Stormtroopers are a common ken across the Empire ’s conquered domain in the " Star Wars " creation , and Colombia ’s denuded - legged spiders grow out to besurprisingly legion , too . Though the arachnids had never been reported in that country before , the subject authors described two metal money in two antecedently known genera — Paratropis , Anisaspis — and four in the newfoundStormtropisgenus . All the new describe metal money were scattered across a diverse range of habitats in Colombia .
MaleStormtropisspiders have just two claws on their groundwork , while other denudate - legged spiders have three claw . Stormtropismales also lack the group ’s touch leg spines and have genitals that are more elongated . FemaleStormtropisspiders ' genitals have a tubular " neck " and an overall mushroom cloud shape , which also differs from the typical physique found in bald - legged spider .
Some of the newfound distaff spider unexpectedly demonstrated a antecedently nameless behavior : digging burrow in territory , the investigator cover .
OneStormtropisspecies — S. muisca — was collected in the fundamental Andes at an height of 11,155 feet ( 3,400 meters ) above ocean level , induce that tool the highest - harp bald-headed - legged spider species confirmed to date , the writer wrote .
However , S.muisca’scousins may subsist even higher than that . The scientist gather grounds of other bald - legged spider species living at altitude as gamey as 13,123 fundament ( 4,000 m ) , but that data is yet to be write , according to the study .
The findings were published online today ( March 14 ) in the journalZooKeys .
earlier published onLive Science .
