Sydney brown trapdoor spider

The Sydney brown trapdoor spider (Arbanitis rapax, synonym Misgolas rapax) is a spider in the family Idiopidae, 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.

Sydney brown trapdoor spider
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Mygalomorphae
Family:	Idiopidae
Genus:	Arbanitis
Species:	A. rapax
Binomial name
Arbanitis rapax (Karsch, 1878)
Synonyms
Misgolas rapax Karsch, 1878 Misgolas hubbardi Wishart, 1992

Description

Sydney brown trapdoors are medium-to-large in size; the female is around 35 mm in length, while the male is usually around 20 mm and of a 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.

• 
  Male
• 
  Female

Behaviour

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 250 mm in depth and around 25 mm in width. Brown trapdoors with silk triplines around them are often found at the entrances to the burrows.

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 978-1-876334-49-9.
• Hawkeswood, Trevor J. Spiders of Australia. Pensoft Publishers (Dec 2003). ISBN 954-642-192-8.

Gallery

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  In Kurrajong, New South Wales.
• 
  Looking out of its burrow in Kurrajong, New South Wales
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  In its burrow in Kurrajong, New South Wales
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  Outside its burrow in Kurrajong, New South Wales
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  Outside its burrow in Kurrajong, New South Wales
• 
  Outside its burrow in Kurrajong, New South Wales
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  Attacking a stick and showing its fangs with a venom drop (see red circle) in Kurrajong, New South Wales
• 
  Male in MacMasters Beach, New South Wales