California spider named for Stephen Colbert

BY CARRIE MELAGO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Updated Friday, August 1st 2008, 7:54 PM

Comedian Stephen Colbert has earned an itsy-bitsy honor.

A species of spider will be named for the faux talk show host, who demanded the distinction after complaining that rocker Neil Young was given his own arachnid namesake.

The Aptostichus stephencolberti - the final "T" will be silent, as it is in Colbert's name - is a trapdoor species of spider discovered along the California coast last year.

"The Colbert Report" host - who never breaks character from his blow-hard talking head persona - pitched a fit this week when he learned a spider species would be named for Young.

Colbert even went so far as to sit on a chair featuring Young's face as he interviewed his former band, Crosby, Stills and Nash.

East Carolina University biologist Jason Bond, who gives names to new spider species, was listening.

He'll appear on the Comedy Central show Wednesday to officially announce Colbert's eight-legged accolades.

When Colbert learned he'd be similarly honored, he couldn't resist sticking it to Young.

"Guess what, Neil? What goes around, lays eggs around. Because that same biologist, Jason Bond, is naming a spider after me," Colbert said Wednesday. "And all I had to do was shamelessly beg on national television."

But Colbert added, "Watch out, Neil. When they say my spider eats its young, they are talking about you!"

Bond told the Daily News that he has named spiders for people ranging from Nelson Mandela to his own wife. The sister species of Colbert's spider is actually named for Angelina Jolie.

While Bond expects to be poked fun of next week, he said he respects Colbert's commentary and appreciates the attention he is bringing to taxonomy, the description and classification of new species.

"It's a great opportunity for people to connect with it. I think many people are surprised that there are new species," he said. "The stuff that makes the world go round are all the small things."

This wasn't Colbert first bid at having something named for him.

In 2006, his fans hijacked an online poll to name a junior hockey team's mascot after him, resulting in Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle. And a similar effort narrowly named a bridge over the Danube River after Colbert, until Hungarian officials disqualified him for being alive.

cmelago@nydailynews.com