‘Large' fanged creature found behind a trapdoor in India. It's a new species
In a dirt burrow of southern India, a 'large' creature watched as something forcibly opened its trapdoor. It hurried forward, pulled the door shut and 'held it tightly' with its fangs, but its efforts were in vain.
Scientists dug around the trapdoor to catch the bristly animal — and discovered a new species.
A team of researchers hiked along the 'outskirts of Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve' in May 2021 as part of a regionwide survey of scorpions, spiders and other arachnids, according to a study published May 26 in the peer-reviewed journal Taprobanica.
During a morning search of the 'savanna grassland habitat,' researchers noticed some burrows and trapdoors in the 'reddish, gravelly soil,' the study said. Intrigued, they opened the doors, watched the spiders that momentarily emerged and began 'carefully' digging up the burrows.
Researchers eventually caught roughly a dozen of these spiders and, after taking a closer look, realized they'd discovered a new species: Heligmomerus australis, or the southern trapdoor spider.
Southern trapdoor spiders are considered 'large-sized,' reaching over an inch across, the study said. They have bristly bodies, claws, fangs and eight eyes arranged 'in three rows.'
Photos show the reddish brown coloring of the new species.
Southern trapdoor spiders built 'large' and 'deep' burrows with 'a single entrance,' the study said. These entrances were covered with a round, 'fairly thick' door constructed with silk, 'dried grass and algae, sand particles, and grass leaves.'
While excavating one burrow, researchers found 'two spiderlings along with an adult female.'
Researchers said they named the new species after the Latin word for 'south' because the site where it was discovered is 'currently the southernmost known locality for the genus Heligmomerus on the Indian peninsula.'
So far, southern trapdoor spiders have only been found at one site around Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu near the southernmost tip of mainland India and a roughly 1,700-mile drive south from New Delhi.
The new species was identified by its reproductive system, eye shape and arrangement, body shape and other subtle physical features, the study said. Researchers did not provide a DNA analysis of the new species.
The research team included Akshay Khandekar, Tejas Thackeray, Swapnil Pawar, Vivek Waghe and Satpal Gangalmale.
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