Last updated April 10, 2019 at 1:47 pm
Four new venomous species of trapdoor spider have just been added to our tally.
A male Euoplos turrificus. Credit: Michael Rix
Meet Euoplos turrificus, one of four newly described Australian trapdoor spider species.
The arachnids are all native to the south-east region of Queensland. As their name suggests, all four species construct burrows, topped with moveable flaps.
A crenated burrow lid made by Euoplos crenatus. Credit: Michael Rix
In the case of E. turrificus and three closely related species, however, the flaps are ornate and crenelated, giving them a vaguely Medieval appearance.
This did not go unnoticed by Jeremy Wilson from Griffith University who, with colleagues, describes the new spiders in the journal Invertebrate Systematics.
The species have been clumped into a new taxonomic group, called turrificus – deriving from the Latin word “turris”, from which derive the words “turret” and “tower”.
Each of the new species live only in small patches of rainforest in southeastern Queensland. This tiny natural distribution makes them particularly vulnerable to extinction, writes Wilson in The Conversation.
The burrows of two species of spider protrude above ground level. Credit: Jeremy Wilson
