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Trapdoor spiders in TN??
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Posted by tngreenthumb z6 TN (My Page) on Mon, Apr 7, 08 at 12:22
| I've lived here all my life and I don't think I have ever seen one of these before yesterday. I was digging a hole and saw the tunnel when I moved the mulch back. This guy/gal fell out in one of the first few shovels of dirt. I think he was dormant and it looks like he was maybe about to molt.
Anyone know much about these? From what I can tell this is the Cyclocosmia truncata, or the Ravine Trapdoor spider. Apparently it is found in wooded areas in TN, AL & GA. Maybe others. I'd l ike to know if they are good pest killers (I'm betting yes, huge fangs!) and just how dangerous they might be to people/animals.
The abdomen is very unusual. In fact, it is where the truncata part of the name comes from. The very back end looks wild and is used to plug up the hole to make it harder for predators to get at the spider.
(Click on images for larger versions. If you dare...) |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Trapdoor spiders in TN??
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Trap-Door Spider, common name for any of several large, hairy, harmless tropical spiders that nest underground. They make long burrows in the earth, line them with silk, which they spin, and fashion at the entrance a bevel-edged, hinged, accurately fitting trapdoor often made of alternate layers of earth and silk. The upper surface of the door may be covered with earth or gravel, thus disguising the entrance. A species common in the southwestern United States digs holes about 2.5 cm (about 1 in) in diameter and sometimes 30 cm (12 in) in length.
The nests of trap-door spiders are generally in groups. The young hatch in the burrows of their mothers and live there for a few weeks; they then leave the nest and begin small underground burrows of their own. Trap-door spiders subsist largely on ants and other insects. Scientific classification: Trap-door spiders make up the family Ctenizidae of the order Araneae. The species common in the southwestern United States is classified as Bothriocyrtum californicum.
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RE: Trapdoor spiders in TN??
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| That's all well and good, but I think I'll just do my best to avoid getting bitten. Which is generally good advice anytime, but particularly so with something large enough to catch and eat small frogs and lizards. |
RE: Trapdoor spiders in TN??
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Yikes!!!!! I hope I never run across one in my garden. I know they are supposed to be great predators and kill pests, but...... I HATE SPIDERS!
The whole indea of wrapping up their prey injecting them with digestive enzimes and sucking out the resulting meal, makes me think of Dracula (:-o
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