Sydney brown trapdoor spider

Sydney brown trapdoor spider
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Family:	Idiopidae
Genus:	Misgolas
Species:	M. rapax
Binomial name
Misgolas rapax Karsch, 1878

The Sydney brown trapdoor spider (Misgolas rapax) is a Trapdoor spider found primarily around Sydney, Australia. It is usually shy and retiring and is often confused with the Sydney funnel-web spider, which is one of the most venomous spiders in the world.

Description

Sydney brown trapdoors are medium-to-large in size, the female is around 35mm in length, while the male is usually around 20mm and of a more slimmer build. They are chocolate brown coloured and the males have distinct boxing glove-shaped palps, which are the appendages at the front of the head between the first pair of legs.

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  Male Sydney brown trapdoor spider (Misgolas rapax).

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  Female Sydney brown trapdoor spider (Misgolas rapax).

Behavior

Sydney brown trapdoors are usually shy and retiring, although the occasional individual will stand up and show its fangs if harassed inside its burrow. They spend most of the time in their burrows. At night, they are waiting for food in front of their burrows. Mature male Sydney brown trapdoors wander during humid weather in search of a mate. Mating takes place within the female's burrow. Usually the male escapes being eaten in order to mate with several females, before dying. The eggs are kept in the mother's burrow in a cocoon. After hatching, the spiderlings stay in the burrow for some time and eventually emerge to disperse and fend for themselves.

Habitat

Sydney brown trapdoors dig an open burrow in the ground that is lined with silk. These burrows may reach 250mm in depth and around 25mm in width. Brown trapdoors are often found scattered of silk triplines around the entrance.

Toxicity

Often mistaken for Funnel-webs, the bites of Sydney brown trapdoors are not dangerous. Local pain and swelling may occur.

References

• [1], Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
• [2], Wildlife of Sydney
• [3], Encyclopedia of Life
• [4], The Journal of Arachnology
• [5], American Arachnology (pdf-document)
• [6], The World Spider Catalog Version 9 by Norman I. Platnick, 2008 - The American Museum of Natural History
• Brunet, Bert. Spiderwatch : A Guide to Australian Spiders. New Holland (2008). ISBN 9781 8763 3449 9.
• Hawkeswood, Trevor J. Spiders of Australia. Pensoft Publishers (Dec 2003). ISBN 954-642-192-8.

Gallery

Sydney brown trapdoor spider (Misgolas rapax)

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  Sydney brown trapdoor spider in Kurrajong, New South Wales.

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  Sydney brown trapdoor spider looks out of its burrow in Kurrajong, New South Wales.

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  Sydney brown trapdoor spider in its burrow in Kurrajong, New South Wales.

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  Sydney brown trapdoor spider outside its burrow in Kurrajong, New South Wales.

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  Sydney brown trapdoor spider outside its burrow in Kurrajong, New South Wales.

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  Sydney brown trapdoor spider outside its burrow in Kurrajong, New South Wales.

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  Sydney brown trapdoor spider attacks a stick and shows its fangs with a venom drop (see red circle) in Kurrajong, New South Wales.