Jeff Daniels says he’s ‘made it’ after scientists name parasite after him

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said in a release.“Honestly, I was honored by their homage to me and ‘Arachnophobia.’ Made me smile. And of course, in Hollywood, you haven’t really made it until you’ve been recognized by those in the field of parasitology,” Daniels told UCR.The parasitic nematode — scientifically called Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi by those brilliant folks — ultimately starves tarantulas to death while also immobilizing the appendages around their fangs, according to the West Coast research facility.“When I first heard a new species of nematode had been named after me, I thought, ‘Why?

Is there a resemblance?'”Putting it bluntly, the newfound microworms — just like Dr. Jennings — are cold-blooded spider killers, UC Riverside parasitologist and Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi team leader Adler Dillman said about the rare discovery.“If they get this infection, they will die of starvation,” Dillman said, adding that some cases may take several months as tarantulas “don’t have to eat particularly often.”The telltale sign of the parasite is when tarantulas “exhibit strange behaviors like walking around on tiptoe and not eating,” according to researchers who began their project in 2019 when a wholesale tarantula breeder contacted Dillman.The breeder then sent some specimens “for help identifying a mysterious infection” that caused “an odd white mass around the mouth area” in the big bugs.It was later determined that these killer nematodes are found on the mouths of tarantulas rather than inside their stomachs and do not appear to cause any exterior harm to the creepy crawler, UCR reported.“It isn’t clear that the nematodes feed on the spider itself.