Pringles is allegedly filing a petition to change the name of a spider species called kidney garden spider.
The potato chip company claimed that the arachnid's appearance resembles its brand's mustached mascot, famously known as Mr. Pringles, according to multiple reports.
In this context, the American chip company has been reported to be making the petition to the International Society for Arachnology (ISA) and nine other organizations, requesting the spider species name to be changed to "Pringles the Spider" or "Pringles Spider."
The petition comes as the company claimed that the black pattern marks on the spider's back looks like the thick mustache of its mascot.
The firm's decision has been perceived to be purely market-driven, adding to the fact that it was unaware that an animal similar to its brand logo exists.
Pringles has also already launched a marketing campaign online, acknowledging the unique appearance of the small spider.
The kidney garden spider (Araneus mitificus) is native to Southeast Asia, including in Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam. It is also found in other countries in South Asia and East Asia.
The arachnid is sometimes dubbed as the pale orb weaver since it belongs to the higher classification of Angulate orb weavers.
Ongoing Petition
The current name of the spider was designated in 1886.
More than 135 years later Pringles is dedicated to associate the spider under its own to ISA and other similar groups online, according to various media reporting, including the Daily Mail UK.
The petition is also directed to the following groups:
- European Society of Arachnology
- American Arachnological Society
- Arachnologische Gesellschaft
- Association Francaise d'Arachnologie
- British Arachnological Society
- S.E.A.
- Asian Society of Arachnology
- Aracnofilla
- iNaturalist
The petition is currently posted at change.org, wherein Pringles is calling the arachnid community to support such recognition of the animal.
It has already garnered 901 out of the 1,000 goal signatures as of Thursday, July 7.
However, it is unclear if the approval of the company's request should be unanimous or not amongst the groups.
Further details regarding the petition have not been provided.
Nevertheless, it is deemed that the move is for brand awareness only and will not affect the said spider species in their natural habitats, as well as conservation efforts.
Kidney Garden Spider
According to the social network iNaturalist, Araneus mitificus belongs to the genus Araneus, subfamily Araneinae, and super family Araneoidea of the suborder Araneomorphae.
Kidney garden spider was initially labelled as Epeira mitifica by French arachnologist Eugene Simon in 1886.
Their distribution reaches as far as Pakistan, India, China, Japan, Papua New Guinea, and even Australia. The common dwelling place of the arachnids are in gardens and low vegetation.
The arachnids build orb webs around a leaf as a form of structure.
Similar to other spiders, kidney garden spiders catch their prey on their silk-lined sanctuary but does not rest on the web's center.
The species' female spiders produce larger web structures compared to males, who often built their webs near their counterparts, according to iNaturalist.
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