Spiny Trapdoor Spiders - Family: Idiopidae
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Also known as True trapdoor Spiders - even though not all species create a door for their burrow - or Armoured Trapdoor Spiders, the Idiopidae are a large family consisting of 441 species in 23 genera. At least 22 species from 5 genera may be encountered locally in the Northern Rivers. In general the Idiopids are a very diverse family and this has proven to be a stumbling block when it comes to ascertaining taxonomic relationships. So far the last word seems to have been had by Rix et al. (2017) when when he and a number of co-authors published a relimitation and revision of the whole family at generic level. The outcome of their analyses is however not reflected in 'iNaturalist' but it is applied here. The Australasian Idiopid fauna is a single subfamily with four tribes containing ten genera with an eleventh genus added in 2021.
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As stated, the Idiopids are a diverse lot making a general description pointless. Even at a family level it is necessary to identify a number of features that together need to be used for identification purposes. At a genus level some features of the burrow may be helpful; some burrows are plainly camouflaged, others have no lid, and yet others may be adorned with a pattern of radiating sticks or leaves. At species level, identification becomes difficult without expertise in arachnology. There might be some merit in making judgement calls based on the location where the spider was found as many spiders in this family are localised but, there could, of course, always be an issue with range overlap.
Unfortunately there is no way to overcome this problem and consequently many records of Australian Idiopid spiders remain unidentified. |
Subfamily: Arbanitinae
Tribe: Arbanitini
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Arbanitis beaury
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Arbanitis bithongabel (likely occurrence)
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Arbanitis echo (likely occurrence)
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Arbanitis gracilis
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Long-legged Arbanitis - Arbanitis longipes
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Arbanitis mascordi
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Arbanitis monteithi (possible occurrence)
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Arbanitis papilliosus (possible occurrence)
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Sydney Brown Trapdoor Spider - Arbanitis rapax
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Arbanitis robertcollinsi
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Arbanitis robertsi
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Tribe: Aganipini
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Idiosoma planites (possible occurrence)
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Tribe: Cataxini
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Cataxia maculata
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Pulleine's Trapdoor Spider - Cataxia pulleinei
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Cataxia spinipectoris (possible occurrence)
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Tribe: Euoplini
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Cryptoforis absona
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Cryptoforis celata
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Cryptoforis fallax
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Cryptoforis mainae
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Cryptoforis montana (possible occurrence)
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Euoplos spinnipes (possible occurrence)
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Euoplos variabilis (possible occurrence)
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Taxonomy:
Phylum: Arthropoda (Arthropods)
> Subphylum: Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
> Class: Arachnida (Arachnids)
> Order: Aranea (Spiders)
> Suborder: Mygalomorphae (Mygalomorphs)
> Superfamily: Avicularioidea
> Family: Idiopidae (Spiny Trapdoor Spiders)
> Subfamily: Arbanitinae
> Tribe: Arbanitini
> Genus: Arbanitis (Brown Trapdoor Spiders)
> Species: A. beaury
> Species: A. bithongabel *
> Species: A. echo *
> Species: A. gracilis
> Species: A. longipes - Long-legged Arbanitis
> Species: A. mascordi
> Species: A. monteithi ^
> Species: A. papilliosus ^
> Species: A. rapax - Sydney Brown Trapdoor Spider
> Species: A. robertcollinsi
> Species: A. robertsi
> Tribe: Aganipini
> Genus: Idiosoma
> Species: I. planites ^
> Tribe: Cataxini
> Genus: Cataxia
> Species: C. maculata
> Species: C. pulleinei - Pulleine's Trapdoor Spider
> Species: C. spinipectoris ^
> Tribe: Euoplini
> Genus: Cryptoforis
> Species: C. absona
> Species: C. celata
> Species: C. fallax
> Species: C. mainae
> Species: C. montana ^
> Genus: Euoplos (Golden Trapdoor Spiders)
> Species: E. spinnipes ^
> Species: E. variabilis ^
* = likely
^ = possibly
References and links:
> Framenau, V.W., Baehr, B.C. and Zborowski, P., (2014). 'A Guide to the Spiders of Australia.' New Holland Publishers, Sydney.
> Rix, M.G., Raven, R.J., Main, B.Y., Harrison, S.E., Austin, A.D., Cooper, S.J.B. and Harvey, M.S., (2017). 'The Australasian spiny trapdoor spiders of the family Idiopidae (Mygalomorphae: Arbanitinae): a relimitation and revision at the generic level.' Invertebrate Systematics 31(5): 566-634. doi:10.1071/IS16065
> Wilson, J.D., Raven, R.J., Schmidt, D.J., Hughes, J.M. and Rix, M.G., (2020). 'Total-evidence analysis of an undescribed fauna: resolving the evolution and classification of Australia’s golden trapdoor spiders (Idiopidae: Arbanitinae: Euoplini).' Cladistics 36(6): 543-568. doi:10.1111/cla.12415
> Wilson, J.D., Rix, M.G., Schmidt, D.J., Hughes, J.M. and Raven, R.J., (2021). 'Systematics of the spiny trapdoor spider genus Cryptoforis (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae: Euoplini): documenting an enigmatic lineage from the eastern Australian mesic zone.' Journal of Arachnology 49(1): 28-90. doi:10.1636/JoA-S-18-100
https://wsc.nmbe.ch/family/45/Idiopidae
> Framenau, V.W., Baehr, B.C. and Zborowski, P., (2014). 'A Guide to the Spiders of Australia.' New Holland Publishers, Sydney.
> Rix, M.G., Raven, R.J., Main, B.Y., Harrison, S.E., Austin, A.D., Cooper, S.J.B. and Harvey, M.S., (2017). 'The Australasian spiny trapdoor spiders of the family Idiopidae (Mygalomorphae: Arbanitinae): a relimitation and revision at the generic level.' Invertebrate Systematics 31(5): 566-634. doi:10.1071/IS16065
> Wilson, J.D., Raven, R.J., Schmidt, D.J., Hughes, J.M. and Rix, M.G., (2020). 'Total-evidence analysis of an undescribed fauna: resolving the evolution and classification of Australia’s golden trapdoor spiders (Idiopidae: Arbanitinae: Euoplini).' Cladistics 36(6): 543-568. doi:10.1111/cla.12415
> Wilson, J.D., Rix, M.G., Schmidt, D.J., Hughes, J.M. and Raven, R.J., (2021). 'Systematics of the spiny trapdoor spider genus Cryptoforis (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae: Euoplini): documenting an enigmatic lineage from the eastern Australian mesic zone.' Journal of Arachnology 49(1): 28-90. doi:10.1636/JoA-S-18-100
https://wsc.nmbe.ch/family/45/Idiopidae
Photographic contributions: