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TRAPDOOR SPIDERS |
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The name Trapdoor spider covers several families and many
different species. Trapdoor spiders include the Funnel-web, Mouse,
Whistling, and Curtain-web spiders; they are distinguished by the
stocky body, long leg-like palps, and two knee-like lobes to which
the fangs join (chelicerae) in front. Most live in burrows with or
without trapdoors in the ground, but some live in trees. Trapdoor
spiders have powerful chelicerae and four pale patches (the
book-lungs) under the abdomen. The correct identification of
Trapdoor spiders is often quite complicated. Trapdoor spiders can be distinguished from the
more dangerous Funnel web spider by its brown or mottled markings.
When in danger, a Trapdoor spider will freeze or flee whereas a
Funnel web will rear back aggressively. Trapdoor spiders
construct burrows lined by their silk and closed by a hinged door of
silk, moss, and soil. There they lie in wait for passing prey,
usually an insect; when the prey touches silken threads radiating
out on the ground near the door, the spiders quickly open the door
and seize it. Closely related to Tarantulas, Trapdoor Spiders make
up the family Ctenizidae. They are generally small, are harmless to
humans, and are found in many warm climates. They also use their
burrows for protection and as nest sites, the female spinning her
egg sac for about 300 eggs in the burrow. |
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6 July, 2008:
This is a spider I found on my back patio last night we had very heavy rain and I thought it was trying to keep dry ??
I have tried to find out what kind it was and think it’s a trapdoor spider looking at some pictures on the net. I live in Mandurah Perth Western Australia..
any way I didn’t want it in my garden as I wasn’t sure it was a safe spider to have and I have very small dogs so I released tonight in the bush took this pictures hoping some one might know what it is ....
thank Mandi
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3 May, 2008:
Hi Glen, I think these were little Trapdoor Spiders. I have
seen them a lot since it's turned warm again. Feel free to use
the pics if you want. --Damy
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22 December, 2007:
I found these two big guys at the bottom of my pool after a rainy
night. I scooped them out and they were soggy and lifeless. I put
them in a container to see if possibly they would come back to life,
which luckily they did! An hour later they were crawling about
inside the container. They seem to have hard "shell-like" bodies.
Can you tell me what species they are? I plan to keep them for my 7
& 8 year old kids to see before putting them back in our yard (far
away from the pool!) Thanks, Janene W.
PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THAT JUST BECAUSE AN INSECT IS AT THE BOTTOM OF A
POOL, DON'T ALWAYS ASSUME THEY ARE DEAD. SOMETIMES THEY JUST NEED TO
BE NETTED OUT OF THE POOL AND PUT IN A CONTAINER TO "COME BACK TO
LIFE". LATER, YOU CAN SET THEM FREE BACK INTO YOUR YARD, AND YOU
HAVE DONE A GOOD DEED FOR THE DAY! |
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8 September, 2007:
Hi Glen--
Great page! My wife found this spider near Parkesville,
on Vancouver Island,
B.C. (Canada) on the beach at low tide (it was in a spot
that was definitely
covered by the high tide earlier that morning). The
naturalist at the park
info hut couldn't ID it (she did say there was a species
of tarantula on the island). Its head and body are about
1.5 to 1.7 cm, and from tip of front leg to tip of back
about 3.75- 4.0 cm. I have supplied two photos -- on my
rather old and dark display the high contrast one I
manipulated in iPhoto shows the markings on the back
more clearly. Its head parts were rather pancake flat
(almost as if it had been stamped out in a die) compared
to the bulbous abdomen with its markings. A couple of
days later I saw a
smaller one just at the edge of the forest near the tide
line. Thanks, Mark
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4
September, 2007:
Hi Glen, Thanks for answering my email and for posting
my Hobo spider pictures on the website. I thought you
might also like those nice shots I recently did of an
orb-weaver and of a trapdoor spider. Best wishes,
Françoise
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3 September, 2007:
Hello, I'm a spider phobic living in Sequim, WA, now
spider heaven with the warming... I have lots of pics but
will only ask about this one... a fearsome looking tribe of
them are taking over my garage.
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5 August, 2007:
Greetings!
Fished this one out of the bottom of my swimming pool in
North Carolina – it was still alive! and after a time it
crawled away. I think it’s a wolf spider, but wanted to be
sure.
Thanx!
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28 January, 2007:
I found this spider inside my house in the Perth Hills. Can you
please confirm if this is a Trapdoor, Wolf or other
spider...Thanks
Mal
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22 October, 2006:
Hello,
I'm sure you receive many requests and do not have time to
respond to
each. I'm also sure that the vast majority of these requests are
sure
they have a specimen of the more dangerous sort. I'm no
different it
would seem.
Everything I read says not possible, but after looking at what
seems
like every spider picture on the internet, I keep coming back to
the
sydney funnel web. It looks like male, but I can't make out any
spurs
and he won't cooperate and show me. The only problem is this
spider was
caught in my living room, about 7500 miles away from where it
should be. I'm located in the US, Washington State (Spokane).
Hopefully these pictures are sufficient, but please request
additional
photos if you like (esp the underside shot). Higher resolution
image files
are available. This wasn't my idea of the most comfortable way
to
learn macro photography.
My preference is to be completely wrong-- in the interest of a
good
nights sleep. We have (or had) fresh cut flowers in the house,
which is
the only way I can think one of these gets so far from home. I'm
convinced at this point it would survive the trip because it has
been
outside for 48 hours now and is still very much alive and our
temps are
dropping quite low at night.
Thank you,
Jason
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Reply: This is
probably a male trapdoor on the move, Sydney funnelweb
spiders only live around Sydney. glen |
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16 September, 2006:
I
am sending two photos of a spider found in my wooded lot in
North Central Texas. Since I have children playing in the yard,
I have captured him before and relocated him away from the
house, but he or it has returned. I would like to know if he is
poisonous and exactly what kind of spider he is. He reminds me
of a tarantula, but much smaller. One photo is blurry, but gives
you an idea of his size. I would very much appreciate your help,
as I do not want to destroy anything unnecessarily. Kaye Boyd,
Paradise,
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21 August, 2006:
Hi
Glen, Here I am again. Sometime ago I mentioned that I was
trying to get some outdoor photos of the Sydney Brown Trapdoor
Spider. I was able to get some last Thursday and thought I
would sent a couple to you for your wesite if you care to use
them. This trapdoor is a female and is quite fiesty as trapdoors
go. She is quite large, about 30mls to 35 mls in body length.
and shows the very nice brown colouration of this species.
Hope you like them, Regards, Col Halliday
Click for a larger
view.
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11 June, 2006:
I
have a Sydney Brown Trapdoor that I am feeding and growing and I
have attached a couple of photos of her which you may want to use on
your site if you feel they are what you are lookng for. Collin
Halliday |
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24
December 2005:
Hi Glen, While I was hiking in Victoria's alpine area (Australia) I came
across a spider. Size is approx. 60-70mm. Do you know what
species this is. Hope the photo is good enough.
Best regards,
Mark
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19 December,
2005:
Hi. Although your site is very extensive, I have not been
able to determine what type of spider this is. We live
outside of Austin
, TX and we found this guy in our garage. He could have been
forced into the neighborhood by nearby construction. He has
fangs and very distinctive/unusual markings on his bottom
side.
Pic 34 is a view of his bottom
Pic 16 is also for scale
Pic 17 is a view of his top side
Pic 19 is his overall profile
Thank you so much for any information you can give me.
Angel G.
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Reply: This is a brown trapdoor spider.
http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/trapdoor_spiders.htm
15 December, 2005:
Hi Glen I now have the occupant of the burrow! Any chance you could
tell me what it is and whether I need to do something about
it?
Thanks for your help,
Kelly.
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27 November, 2005:
Here are some more spider pictures that we have recently taken. We had a
huge storm come through and found this on our porch this morning.
I've looked at pictures this morning and it looks like a trapdoor
spider. It was huddled in a way so we had to try and get it to open
up, which didn't make the spider too happy.
Dawn G.
Kingsville, Texas |
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Reply:
In looking at other photos from this page
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/spiders.html, they have it
identified as a female trap door spider. Dianna Ray
3 October, 2005:
Hi Glen, Excellent site. I was hoping to have this aggressive spider
identified. I live in San Antonio, TX. Found him today (10-12-05) in
my garage crawling fairly slowly against the wall. Around an inch
and a half long. Not the best climber as it had trouble climbing
vertically out of a 2" cardboard lid. Reared up and attacked
anything that got close to it (wet cotton ball, popsicle stick... I
have a video clip if you want it.) I thought it might be a Southern
House Spider, but doesn't quite fit the look. Looks very similar to
a Sydney funnel spider, but I don't live in Australia, and perhaps
it's a bit small. His fangs have quite a grip (on the stick). I
didn't see any other spider that had such short, stout legs and the
glossy body. Can you help me? I'm concerned about whether or not it
is venomous since I have an 8 month old that's starting to crawl
around. Also, any pointers on keeping him alive (feeding, shelter,
etc?) Thanks a lot. Aaron |
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Reply: It is a male
and some sort of a myglamorph. Possibly a Trapdoor.
7 October, 2005:
I found this big guy in a water bowl what kind is it and is
it and is it harmful, it looks thicker bodied than I usually see
around my area(coastal North Carolina) |
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Reply: Could be a trapdoor spider.
23 September, 2005:
Today my dog caught a spider that I have never seen before.
It is about the size of a half dollar. It is black with a big butt
that is attached by a very small tube. The Butt is white with spots
on the bottom. It has 10 legs and pretty big Fangs. It is black and
it looks like it has some sort of shiny black armor on its back and
chest area. its legs are hairy. I live in Oregon if this helps you.
I will try and send a picture soon so you can get a look at this.
Thank you for your time.
Andy |
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