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Ctenizidae
The Trapdoor Spider is a common name for any of several large, hairy, harmless tropical spiders that nest underground. This is a spider that constructs its burrow with a cork-like trapdoor made of soil, vegetation and silk. They can be around 2.5 centimetres long on average, however, they can reach a length of 4 centimetres. Trapdoor spiders have 8 eyes, a pair in the middle and 3 on each side.
A Trapdoor spider lives under ground for most of its life. You can find Trapdoor spiders in Japan, Africa, South and North America and many other warm places. It has a trapdoor on top of a burrow. A Trapdoor spiders burrow is around 30 centimetres deep and 5 centimetres across. Sometimes they like to make their burrows beside creeks or rivers so they can catch little fish.
You can see spiderlings in the photo. When the spiderlings have hatched, they remain for several months before dispersing on the ground. They will then make their own miniature burrows. Each time the spider grows bigger, it has to widen its burrow and in the door-building species, add another rim to the door. In undamaged trapdoors, yearly concentric (having a common centre, as circles or spheres) rings can be seen.
Spotted on May 8, 2018
Submitted on Jul 8, 2018
2 Comments
Cool spotting, Stephen. Nice to see the spider's home too! Congratulations on your SOTW nomination.
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!