Arachnids and Culture Through history, arachnid symbolism in culture and mythology has been remarkable. The cultural entomology of the Sumerian era (3,500 B.C.), for example, is fundamentally based on arachnids. The most important arthropods in this mythology are scorpions and spiders (Melic 2002). Astronomers of Babylon were the first to recognize the Tauro and Scorpion constellations around 4,000 years ago, showing the influence of these animals on that people (Melic 2003). In Navajo Creation myth, Grandmother Spider Woman spins all life from the shimmering threads in her belly (Bartlett 2009). The ancient Vedic philosophy of India suggests that a spider wove the veil of illusion, which hides the supreme reality. In western Africa, Anansi, the spider, prepared the material of which the first human beings were made, and so created sin, the moon and the stars (Cicchetti 2003). Old assertions concerning the birth of the scorpion emerging from various corpses are interpreted as probably resulting from observations of scorpions preying on arthropods on carcasses. Some ancient Egyptian myths emphasize the sacred character of the scorpion as the protector of marriage, and this curious veneration results from accurate observations of scorpions’ sexual behaviour and courtship (Ferrer 2009). In pop culture, spiders have been highlighted in epic literary sagas (and consequently in the movies), such as Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2003) and The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (2004). The spider generally symbolizes patience and tenacity, due to its hunting skills. In addition, it has a lugubrious side that fascinates and scares, enhanced by its poison, which causes paralysis and death to its victims. In the Roman poet Ovid’s collection of stories about the rivalry between gods and mortals, Arachne was a beautiful girl highly skilled in weaving who was once challenged by Athene (Minerva), goddess of the wisdom, weaving, and strategy, to a contest. Arachne wove a tapestry of marvelous beauty on which she depicted the amours of the gods and goddesses. The beauty and the subject of the tapestry so enraged the goddess that she ripped Arachne’s work into shreds. Arachne, overcome with despair, hung herself. Mercifully, Athene gives her life back turning her into a spider and cursing her and her descendants to weave for all time (Thorp and Woodson 1976; Fantham 2004).

A Brief Zoological Characterisation of Arachnids Arachnids are zoologically placed in the class Arachnida, a group that contains 114,275 species described so far, distributed among 11 extant orders (Zhang 2013). They are part of the subphylum Chelicerata, one of the largest of the phylum Arthropoda (Zhang 2013). The class includes many common and familiar forms, such as spiders, scorpions, and mites (Ruppert and Barnes 1996; Brusca and Brusca, 2003; Zhang 2013). The main morphological characteristics of Arachnida are the division of the body into two parts, the prosoma (or cephalothorax) and the opisthosoma (or abdomen), the presence of chelicerae (the mouth part of the arachnids, also called fang), and the presence of eight legs (Figure 1A, B). The fangs of all arachnids lacerate their prey, and spiders have venom glands (Figure 1B). Scorpions also have venom glands, but they are present in the last segment of the metasoma (Figure 1A) that also helps immobilize and digest their prey. All arachnids are easy to recognize because of their body divisions and their eight legs, but the Acari (mites and ticks) have great diversity of shape, and most of them have the prosoma and the opistosoma fused, so both parts are not distinguishable; in these animals just the legs and the mouth parts are recognizable as joint parts (Figure 1C). In the spiders one appendage is greatly responsible for its enormous diversity, the spinnerets (Figure 1B), which are associated with glands that produce the silk they use to build their webs. We ranked Marvel and DC characters according to arachnid features, such as web weaving (only in spiders), venom inoculation (in both spiders and scorpions), exoskeleton (responsible for surface resistance and hardness, among other advantages, in all arthropods), multiple eyes (allowing some arachnids to form images and others to differentiate light from dark), chelicerae, eight legs, a post abdomen (for example, the scorpion’s metasoma, popularly called its “tail”) and the ability to climb vertical smooth surfaces (in spiders and mites).

Arachnids in the Marvel and DC Universes We recorded 84 Marvel characters (Table 1; Figure 2) and 40 DC characters (Table 2; Figure 3). Most of the characters (75, almost two thirds of the total) have been created since the 1990s (Table 3). The chi-squared test results are summarized in Table 4. As a probable consequence of Spider-Man’s success as a pop culture icon, Marvel has significantly more arachnid characters than DC. Arachnids account for about 1.68% of Marvel’s 5,000 or so characters created so far (Marvel 2014). On the other hand, of DC’s cast of over 10,000 characters (DC 2014), arachnid-inspired characters represent only 0.40%. If we merge the two publishers, the arachnid-inspired characters comprise approximately 0.83% of the total. ROLE NAME* REAL NAME ARACH. ORDER NATURE ARACH. CHARAC SOCIAL ROLE YEAR Agent Venom Flash Thompson Ar. Human 1 Hero 2011 Ai Apaec Ai Apaec Ar. Human/Spider 1, 2, 3, 4 Hero 2011 Alistaire Smythe (Spider-Slayer) Alistaire Smythe Ar. Human 1, 5, 6 Villain 1985 Arachnaughts Arachnaughts Ar. Vehicle Robot 2, 3 Villain 2013 Arachne Julia Carpenter Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 1984 Arachne (Ancient Deity) Arachne Ar. Human/Spider 2, 3, 7 Villain 2010 Arachne (Deathweb) Dr Sylvie Yaqua Ar. Human 4, 7 Villain 1992 Arachne (Demon-Fire) Unknown Ar. Devil Spider 2, 3, 7 Villain 1974 Arachnid Unknown Ar. Human None Hero 1983 Arachnoid Zoltan Amadeus Ar. Human 2, 3, 7 Villain 1983 Arachnoid Bradley Shaw Ar. Human 2, 3, 7 Villain 1981 Araña / Spider-girl Anya Corazón Ar. Human 1, 5, 7 Hero 2004 Black Widow Claire Voyant Ar. Human 16 Villain 1940 Black Widow Natasha Romanoff Ar. Human 15 Hero 1964 Black Widow / Adaptoid Yelena Belova Ar. Human 8, 15 Hero 1999 Black Widow Ultimate Monica Chang-Fury Ar. Human 15 Hero 2009 Black Widow Spider-Slayer Black Widow Spider-Slayer Ar. Vehicle Robot 2, 3, 5 Villain 1995 Blood Spider Michael Bingham Ar. Human 1, 7 Villain 1992 Bride Of Nine Spiders Unknown Ar. Human 4 Hero 2007 Carnage Cletus Kasady Ar. Human 1, 7 Villain 1992 Doppelganger Unknown Ar. Human/Spider 1, 2, 7 Villain 1992 Dyna-Mite Roger Aubrey Ac. Human None Hero 1943 Ezekiel Ezekiel Sims Ar. Human 1 Villain 2001 Iron Spider-Man Peter Parker Ar. Human 1, 2, 5, 7, 9 Hero 2006 Karlin Malus Karlin Malus Ar. Human Simbionte 1, 7 Villain 1980 Madame Web Cassandra Webb Ar. Human None Hero 1980 Man-Spider Webster Weaver Ar. Human/Spider 1, 2, 7 Hero 1978 Monster-Ock Dr. Otto Octavius + Carnage Ar. Human Symbiont 2 Villain 2000 New Venom Normie Osborn III Ar. Human 1, 7 Villain 1998 Scarlet Spider Ben Reilly Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 1994 Scarlet Spider Joe Wade Ar. Human 1, 5 Villain 1995 Scarlet Spider (MC2) Felicity Hardy Ar. Human 7 Hero 2002 Scarlet Spider / Tarantula Kaine Parker Ar. Human 1, 4, 7 Hero 1994 Scorn Doctor Tanis Nieves Ar. Human Symbiont 1, 7 Hero 2010 Scorpio Jake Fury Sc. Human 4 Villain 1968 Scorpio Jacques LaPoint Sc. Android None Hero 1986 Scorpio Mikel Fury Sc. Human None Hero 1989 Scorpion Paul Rogers Sc. Human 10 Villain 1962 Scorpion Sam Scorpio Sc. Human 5, 11 Villain 1964 Scorpion Jim Evans Sc. Human 4 Villain 1967 Scorpion McDonald Gargan Sc. Human 1, 12 Villain 1964 Scorpion (Carmilla Black) Thasanee Rappaccini Sc. Human 11 Hero 2005 Scorpion 2099 Kron Stone Sc. Human 5, 10 Villain 1993 Scorpion (Ultimate) Maximus Gargan Sc. Human 5, 11 Villain 2012 Scorpion Spider-Slayer Scorpion Spider-Slayer Sc. Vehicle Robot 2, 12 Villain 1995 She-Venom Anne Weying Ar. Human 1 Hero 1993 She-Venom Patricia Robertson Ar. Human 1 Hero 2003 Singing Spider Unknown Ar. Human None Hero 2009 Spider Carnage Ben Reilly + Carnage Ar. Human Symbiont 1, 7 Villain 1998 Spider Queen Adriana Soria Ar. Human Mutant 2, 3 Villain 2004 Spider Queen Sheron Kaine Ar. Human 7 Hero 1941 Spidercide Unknown Ar. Human 1 Villain 1995 Spider-Girl May “MayDay” Parker Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 1998 Spider-Kid Benjamin Parker? Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 2007 Spider-Man Peter Parker Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 1962 Spider-Man (MC2) Gerry Drew Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 2001 Spider-Man 1602 Peter Parquagh Ar. Human None Hero 2001 Spider-Man 2099 Miguel O’Hara Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 1992 Spider-Man 2211 Jamoff “Max” Borne Ar. Human 2 Hero 1995 Spider-Man (Ultimate) Miles Morales Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 2011 Spider-Man India Pavitr Prabhakar Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 2004 Spider-Man Manga Komori Yū Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 1970 Spider-Slayer Mark I a XIX Spider-Slayer Mark Ar./Sc. Vehicle Robot 2, 5 Villain 1972 Spider-Woman Jessica Drew Ar. Human 1 Hero 1977 Spider-Woman Charlotte Witter Ar. Human/Spider 1, 7, 13 Villain 1999 Spider-Woman Mattie Franklin Ar. Human 1, 13 Hero 1998 Spider-Woman (version Exiles) Mary Jane Watson Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 2001 Spider-X Brian Kornfield Ar. Human 1, 6, 13 Villain 1993 Steel-Spider Oliver “Ollie” Osnick Ar. Human 2 Hero 1998 Superior Spider-Man Otto Octavius Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 2013 Tarantula Clay Riley Ar. Human None Villain 1967 Tarantula Anton Miguel Rodriguez Ar. Human 2, 3 Villain 1974 Tarantula Luis Alvarez Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 1988 Tarantula Jacinda Rodriguez Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 2003 Tarantula Maria Vasquez Ar. Human None Villain 2006 Tarantula Spider-Slayer Tarantula Spider-Slayer Ar. Vehicle Robot 2, 14 Villain 1995 Therak (Deathweb) Theodore Davros Ar. Devil Spider 2, 3 Villain 1992 Ultimate Tarantula Peter Parker Ar. Human/Spider 2, 4, 6, 7 Villain 2006 Venom Eddie Brock Ar. Human 1, 7 Villain 1984 Venom Angelo Fortunato Ar. Human 1, 7 Villain 2004 Venom Ultimate Eddie Brock Jr Ar. Human 1, 7 Villain 2003 Web-Man Unknown Ar. Human 1, 7 Villain 1974 Webslinger Unknown Ar. Human/Spider 7, 13 Hero 2000 Wolf Spider Niko Constantin Ar. Human None Villain 2011 ROLE NAME* REAL NAME ARACH. ORDER NATURE ARACH. CHARAC. SOCIAL ROLE YEAR Alias The Spider Tom Ludlow Hallaway Ar. Human None Hero 1940 Arachnus Murray Serrintella Ar. Human 1, 13 Villain 1991 Arcane Anton Arcane Ar. Human 3 Villain 1973 Bat-Mite Unknown Ac. Alien 17 Variable 1959 Black Spider Eric Needham Ar. Human None Villain 1976 Black Spider Johnny LaMonica Ar. Human None Villain 1995 Dan the Dyna-Mite Daniel Dunbar Ac. Human None Variable 1942 Dyno-Mite Dan Harris Ledbetter Ac. Human None Hero 2005 Fang Unknown Ar. Human? 2, 3, 4 Villain 2004 Gizmo Mikron O’Jeneus Ar. Human 13 Villain 1981 Gloriana Tenebrae Gloriana Tenebrae Ar. Human 4 Villain 2005 Guilt Unknown Ar. Hybrid 8 Villain 2005 I, Spyder Thomas Ludlow-Dalt Ar. Human None Hero 2005 Insect Queen Lana Lang Ar. / Sc. Human 14 Variable 1965 Lois Lane Lois Lane Sc. Human 2, 10, 11 Hero 1941 Misty Kilgore Arriachnon Ar. Human 15 Hero 2005 Moneyspider Lonnie Machin Ar. Human None Hero 1989 Nebula Man Neh-Buh-Loh Ar. Human None Villain 2005 Scorpiana Tristessa Delicias Sc. Human 4, 11 Villain 2008 Scorpion-Machine Scorpion-Machine Sc. Vehicle Robot 3 Villain 1965 Skorpio Sam Ellis Sc. Human 4 Villain 1997 Spider Lili Vorna Ar. Human None Villain 1952 Spider Unknown Ar. Human None Villain 1997 Spider Spider Jerusalem Ar. Human None Hero 1997 Spider Lucas Ludlow Dalt Ar. Human None Variable 1998 Spider III Unknown Ar. Human None Villain 1941 Spider Girl Sussa Paka Ar. Human None Villain 1964 Spider Guild Unknown Ar. Spider 2, 3 Villain 1983 Spider-Man Unknown Ar. Human None Villain 1967 Tarantula Jonathan Law Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 1941 Tarantula Catalina Flores Ar. Human 1, 7 Hero 2002 The Black Spider Derrick Coe Ar. Human None Villain 2005 The Scorpion Unknown Sc. Human None Villain 1941 The Spider Unknown Ar. Human None Villain 1941 The Spider Unknown Ar. Spider 2,3 Villain 1945 The Spider Unknown Ar. Hybrid 3 Villain 1954 The Spider Unknown Ar. Human None Hero 1999 The Spider Unknown Ar. Human None Villain 2005 The Spider Thomas Lucas Ludlow Dalt Ar. Human None Hero 1998 Wolf-Spider Unknown Ar. Human None Villain 2013 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 DC 1 8 3 3 2 3 8 11 1 MARVEL 1 2 0 9 8 9 26 22 7 TOTAL 2 10 3 12 10 12 34 33 8 Qui-squared Significance Publishing House: Marvel (84) vs. DC (40) 15.61 p<0.001 Human (100) vs. Arachnid (or Intermediate) (24) TOTAL 46.58 p<0.001 Human (34) vs. Arachnid (or Intermediate) (6) DC 19.60 p<0.001 Human (65) vs. Arachnid (or Intermediate) (19) MARVEL 25.19 p<0.001 Role: Hero (43) vs. Villain (67) TOTAL 5.24 p<0.05 Role: Hero (11) vs. Villain (25) DC 5.44 p<0.05 Role: Hero (32) vs. Villain (42) MARVEL 1.35 n.s. Arachnids Features: Yes (92) vs. No (32) TOTAL 29.03 p<0.001 Arachnids Features: Yes (18) vs. No (22) DC 0.40 n.s. Arachnids Features: Yes (74) vs. No (10) MARVEL 48.76 p<0.001 Order: Araneae (106) vs. Scorpiones+Acari (20) TOTAL 58.70 p<0.001 Order: Araneae (34) vs. Scorpiones+Acari (7) DC 17.78 p<0.001 Order: Araneae (72) vs. Scorpiones+Acari (13) MARVEL 40.95 p<0.001 As for taxonomic classification, the characters were based mostly on the order Araneae (82.93% in DC, 84.71% in Marvel, 81.13% for both publishers). Of the total characters, 80.65% are human (85.00% in DC, 77.38%, in Marvel). The majority of the Araneae-derived characters are human beings with specific arachnid features (74.19%) rather than simply being named after spiders. Marvel characters (88.10%) have more arachnid features than DC characters, where there is no significant difference between characters with or without arachnid features. Villains (60.91% of total) are significantly more numerous, considering the sum of the two publishers. Arachnids have bad reputation for being dangerous (Thorp and Woodson 1976; Ruppert and Barnes 1996). Since the public usually considers spiders, scorpions and mites “harmful” in general, we expected a larger contingent of villains because the general public usually considers spiders, scorpions and mites “harmful”. However, analysing the two publishers alone, we have a very interesting difference. In DC, the pattern was maintained, with significantly higher number of villains. Nevertheless, there was no statistical difference between the amount of villains and heroes in Marvel characters. It did not happen probably due to a certain friendly neighbourhood character…

The Spider-Man Phenomenon In 1962, one of the most popular Marvel titles, Amazing Fantasy, was going downhill, with disappointing sales. With the risk of the series being cancelled, editor and writer Stan Lee presented executives a new and completely different character: a comics character superior to everything that anyone had seen up to that time. This character had problems inherent to youth, such as relationship difficulties, school problems, and lack of economic stability (David and Greenberger 2010). At the moment Peter Parker gets his powers from the bite of a mutant spider, he thinks immediately about taking personal advantage of it, as any normal human being would. In other words, Stan Lee offered a human character who behaved like an ordinary person. Only after experiencing a personal tragedy, exhaustively explored in different media (the murder of his uncle who raised him), the new character learned his lesson, and forged one of the most famous quotations of pop culture, “with great power comes great responsibility”. When the combined artistry of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko forged the cover of Amazing Fantasy # 15 in August 1962 (Lee and Ditko 1962), the world gained one of its modern icons. Spider-Man and his alter ego Peter Parker became well-known in the four corners of the earth. The audience identified with that character, who was powerful and heroic, but at the same time full of everyday problems, and he certainly changed the way the world of comics would see spiders and related creatures from that day on. Marvel, then, became the publisher of arachnids.