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Image source, Queensland Museum
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The species Euoplos dignitas is harmless to humans
Australian researchers have discovered an oversized species of trapdoor spider found only in Queensland.
The females of this rare species can live for over 20 years in the wild and grow up to 5 cm long – big for trapdoor spiders.
The males grow up to 3 cm.
Unfortunately, much of its habitat has been lost to deforestation, likely making it an endangered species, scientists said.
So-called trapdoor spiders build “trapdoors” out of leaves to hunt insects. They usually measure around 1.5 cm to 3 cm.
The newly discovered species, Euoplos dignitas, is a species of golden trapdoor spider discovered in the semi-arid forests of the Brigalow Belt, a region in central Queensland. It is not dangerous for humans.
The Latin name means variety or size and reflects the spider’s “impressive size and nature,” said scientists at the Queensland Museum, which discovered it.
Females of the species have a reddish-brown carapace, while males have a honey-red outer layer and a grey-brown abdomen.
Euoplos dignitas lives in open forests and builds its burrows in black soil.
The females spend their lives underground. Males leave after five to seven years to find a mate in another burrow.
Very few specimens of this species have been collected in recent decades, with just a single female given to the Queensland Museum since the 1960s, the scientists said in a study published in the Journal of Arachnology.
A three-day search in May 2021 revealed only one population along several hundred meters of a roadside, with most available habitat cleared for farming and ranching.
The continued decline in such habitats could make the species “critically endangered” in the future, they said.
The world’s largest spider is commonly known as the Goliath Birdeater – with a body length of around 13cm and a leg span of 30cm – larger than the size of a dinner plate.