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6 March 2023

A Clever Girl...

It is considered that the female trapdoor spider builds the most protected hole/tunnel out there.   

She digs a burrow, about 15 centimetres deep, into soft ground and makes it as comfy, warm and secure as possible – she uses her silk to line the tunnel walls but her unrivalled creativity is saved for the best part... This clever hard-worker also uses her silk to bind particles of soil together and forms a circular lid to the tunnel and this lid is about 2 centimetres wide, she then adds a silken hinge (just like our doors, but not made of metal ).   


She attaches some gravel (coarse sand) to the underside of the "hinge" so it will fall shut under its own weight – this is extremely well camouflaged because it is all made from close/local natural materials. Her design is arguably envied and often copied by many human architects because its just so.... good. The lid even has a bevelled edge so that it closes perfectly and its almost always impossible to see/find.   

Spiders are not stupid because she reveals her underestimated intelligence in her well-crafted designs. This girl ensures the trapdoor lid is closed during daylight hours so that nothing can see where it lies. In the evening she will lift the lid, ever so slightly, to check if it is dark enough outside.   


When darkness finally arrives she will fully lift/open that lid and have a good ol' stretch (stretching out her two forelegs) Although she is out; she never fully leaves her home and waits for an unsuspecting insect to scurry by. In the blink of an eye, she snatches the unfortunate insect and drags it into that tunnel, the lid automatically swings shut and her feast begins in safety.



  • The males also build these tunnels and lids, but unlike the female hell bent on securing her home (never leaves it), the boys do for periods when they look for a mate.   

 

  • After mating, the male trudges back home and the female "locks her door" with silk, travels to the bottom of her tunnel to lay her eggs in undisturbed safety.   

 

  • They are sometimes confused with a funnel-web spider and can look rather scary, therefore, some really think a trapdoor spider is quite poisonous... But, they are not. These black or brown nocturnal arachnids are not aggressive spiders and hardly bite and their toxin is not harmful to humans. Their bite, however, can sometimes be painful so best to wear gloves when clearing foliage – just in case.   

 

  • Found in Japan, Australia, Africa, South America and North America and many other warm places.   


Text credit: Crying buffalo. Image credit: https://www.wikihow.com/Identify-a-Trapdoor-Spider

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