Scientists in Australia Uncover a Rare and Gigantic Trapdoor Spider Species

This species of spiders builds complex trapdoor-like structures and ambushes prey from beneath them.

Credit: Queensland Museum via Facebook
Credit: Queensland Museum via Facebook

A new species of trapdoor spider has been discovered in Central Queensland, Australia.

The spider has been named Euoplos dignitas (“dignitas” being Latin for “dignity” or “greatness”) due to its mammoth size. This species of spiders builds complex trapdoor-like structures and ambushes prey from beneath them.

According to scientists, the Euoplos dignitas is likely an endangered species due to habitat loss. It can be found in a part of Queensland known as the Brigalow Belt, an open woodland area.

“The semi-arid woodlands of the Brigalow Belt formerly occurred across large areas of eastern Queensland, west of the Great Dividing Range,” according to a statement posted by the Queensland Museum. “However, these woodlands have been fractured by over 150 years of human development, and now include some of Queensland’s most threatened ecological communities. Yet, they have received relatively little scientific attention, with negligible work in understanding and synthesising patterns of biodiversity.”