Dictionary

Nosferatu spider en · NOUN

Etymology

Calque of German Nosferatu-Spinne. Named for the resemblance of its markings to the vampire Count Orlok from the 1922 movie Nosferatu.

Meanings

1. Zoropsis spinimana, a relatively large hunting spider originally from southern Europe.
   • This autumn media reports and social media posts about the rapid spread of so-called Nosferatu spiders have caused unease throughout Switzerland. 2022 December 17, “Alien spiders in Switzerland – how worried should we be?”, in SWI swissinfo.ch:
   • This month, Nikon Metrology’s Thomas Dreisbusch, Application Engineer X-ray & CT, has scanned a spider whose name alone causes fear and terror: the Nosferatu spider (Zoropsis spinimana). 2023 September 23, “Scan of the month September – It’s spider season”, in Nikon:

Forms