What's hiding behind the trapdoor?

Spiders, of course

Date: August 30, 2016

Source: Griffith University

Australia is known as a country full of deadly creatures - now people have trapdoor spiders hiding in their backyards.

The mysteriously elusive creatures are hiding in most forests in Brisbane and are tucked away in national parks throughout the state of Queensland, Australia.

PhD student Jeremy Wilson recently returned from a mission with the Queensland Museum to collect new specimens for its upcoming Wild State display, while also uncovering species of golden trapdoor spiders in common or remote parts of the state from Fraser Island to Cape York.

Mr Wilson has even found new spiders in Lamington National Park in the Gold Coast Hinterland, species that build intricate traps near Gympie and others around the Capricorn Caves in Rockhampton.

Because trapdoor spiders spend most of their life underground their true number and diversity has been a bit of a mystery.

Just four species of golden trapdoor spiders are known in southeast Queensland, but Mr Wilson says he's identified at least 10 more in that area alone.

"We believe there are many more undiscovered species out there," he says.

"The really cool thing about them is that they're really long lived and they don't move much, they live in these holes their entire life.

"What that means is it's really easy for populations to become isolated and become new species."

While some people's first instinct is to swat a spider away, Mr Wilson says these guys have an important role to play in the ecosystem.

The big female trapdoor spiders are likely to be the top invertebrate predator in their ecosystem.

Because populations are so dense, there can be a lot in a very small area which means whole populations could be wiped out by clearing a patch of forest.

"In Australia especially there is so much that is still unknown about them," Mr Wilson says.

Continued  

Three new species of trapdoor spiders

November 2013: Three new species of the wafer trapdoor spider genus, Fufius, have been discovered in Brazil – F. minusculus, F. jalapensis, and F. candango – by scientists from the Instituto Butantan in Sao Paulo. Spiders belonging to the Fufius genus are widely distributed throughout Central and South America, from Guatemala to south eastern Brazil. 

The genus belongs to the Cyrtaucheniidae spider family which are also known as wafer trapdoor spiders. Many, but not all, make wafer-like doors to their burrows, while others build the cork-like doors found commonly in the true trapdoor spiders. Little is known about the biology of the enigmatic genus Fufius, but among the curiosities is that instead of burrows these spiders live in silken tubes in crevices, carefully prolongued with silk.

Read on ...

Thirty-Three New Trapdoor Spider Species Discovered in the American Southwest

Dec. 20, 2012 — A researcher at the Auburn University Museum of Natural History and Department of Biological Sciences has reported the discovery 33 new trapdoor spider species from the American Southwest. These newly described species all belong to the genus Aptostichus that now contains 40 species, two of which are already famous -- Aptostichus stephencolberti and Aptostichus angelinajolieae.

The genus now includes other such notable species as Aptostichus barackobamai, named for Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, and reputed fan of Spiderman comics; Aptostichus edwardabbeyi, named for environmentalist and author Edward Abbey (1927-1989); Aptostichus bonoi from Joshua Tree National Park, named for the lead singer of the Irish rock band U2; Aptostichus pennjillettei named for illusionist and intellectual Penn Jillette; Aptostichus chavezi, named for Mexican American and civil rights and labor activist César Chávez (1927-1993).

Other notable new species names include Aptostichus anzaborrego, known only from the Anza Borrego Desert State Park in southern California; and Aptostichus sarlacc from the Mojave Desert, named for George Lucas' Star Wars creature, the Sarlacc from the fictional desert planet Tatooine.

Read on:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121220154633.htm