diff --git a/bin/taxid_labels.pl b/bin/taxid_labels.pl
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..bacf2a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/taxid_labels.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+#!/usr/bin/perl -w
+use strict;
+use File::Basename;
+use Getopt::Std;
+my $PROGRAM = basename $0;
+my $USAGE=
+"Usage: $PROGRAM
+";
+
+my %OPT;
+getopts('', \%OPT);
+
+if (!@ARGV) {
+    print STDERR $USAGE;
+    exit 1;
+}
+my ($TAXID) = @ARGV;
+
+my @TAXON = `spang spang taxid $TAXID | cut -f2`;
+chomp(@TAXON);
+
+my @OUT = ();
+for (my $i=0; $i<@TAXON; $i++) {
+    my $taxon = $TAXON[$i];
+    $taxon =~ s/^"//;
+    $taxon =~ s/"$//;
+
+    if ($i == 0) {
+        if ($taxon ne "root") {
+            die $taxon;
+        }
+        next;
+    }
+
+    if ($i == 1) {
+        if ($taxon ne "cellular organisms") {
+            die $taxon;
+        }
+        next;
+    }
+
+    if ($taxon =~ /;/) {
+        die;
+    }
+    push @OUT, $taxon;
+}
+
+print $TAXID, "\t", join(";", @OUT)."\n";