(CNN) A new and large species of spider has been found in Queensland, Australia, and researchers say it needs protection.
The rare and colorful tarantula is a species of golden trapdoor spider in the genus Euoplos that has been the subject of a major research program since 2017, according to a study published March 15 in the Journal of Arachnology.
The species, now called Euoplos dignita, was first discovered in the early 20th century near the towns of Monto and Eidsvold, but has remained undescribed and unnamed due to a lack of research, said study author Michael Rix, chief curator of arachnology at the Queensland Museums Network, via e-mail. Mail.
For years there have only been a handful of Euoplos dignita specimens in the Queensland Museum’s collection, all but one of which were collected before the 1970s. There were no known males among them – which presented a significant obstacle for Rix and his research team.
A journey of rediscovery
Having a male specimen is important to being able to identify and name a species within the Mygalomorphae order, which includes Euoplos spiders, said Paula Cushing, senior curator of vertebrate zoology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Cushing, who is also secretary of the American Arachnological Society, was not involved in the study.
“To find out if what you’re seeing is new to science in spiders, you often have to examine the genitals,” she added.
So the researchers needed new genetic material that they could test in a live male specimen – which meant they had to find one.
After a three-day search in May 2021, they finally found what they were looking for on a roadside in the Eidsvold-Monto region. It was the first collection of its kind since the 1990s.
After comparing their find with other specimens in the museum’s collection, the research team officially described Euoplos dignitas. Dignitas is “Latin for dignity or greatness, in reference to the truly spectacular nature of this spider,” Rix said in a YouTube video published by the Queensland Museum Network. “It’s a big, beautiful species.”
Females of the species have a reddish-brown carapace, building habit, and can grow up to 2 inches long, which the study says is “very large” for this species of spider. The males have a “distinctive ‘honey red’ carapace and legs,” and their abdomens are grey-brown.
“These spiders are pretty cool because they’re so long-lived. Some trapdoor mygalomorphs can literally live for decades,” Cushing said. “The longest-lived trapdoor tarantula was 43 years old.”
Protection of Euoplos dignitas
The researchers also found that this rare species needs to be protected. When the researchers located the male Euoplos dignitas specimen, they found that most of the roadside habitats that would normally be available for this species had been cleared or heavily disturbed for agriculture, which was “extremely destructive to trapdoor spiders, their burrows and the integrity of is their habitat,” the researchers said.
“Until the detailed survey work is complete, we won’t know how many remaining populations exist,” Rix said. “But the natural range of the species is small (and) highly fragmented, and we were only able to detect one living (specimen) at the time.”