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Photo#197688
Trapdoor spider? - Antrodiaetus pacificus - female

Trapdoor spider? - Antrodiaetus pacificus - Female
Cobble Hill, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
May 7, 2008
We were digging around preparing a bed for planting and found this spider (with a smaller one that scurried too quickly to bury itself) in the dirt. At first, we couldn't tell which side (dorsal or ventral) we were looking at, because it was all balled up. I think it might be a female. This was in ground which had, until early this spring, been under sheds which we burned down (you can check that out here, if you're interested). The sheds had been overgrown and in place for decades. I don't know the size, but I placed a dandelion flower beside the spider for comparison.

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Trapdoor spider? - Antrodiaetus pacificus - female Trapdoor spider? - Antrodiaetus pacificus - female Trapdoor spider? - Antrodiaetus pacificus - female Trapdoor spider? - Antrodiaetus pacificus - female

Foldingdoor spider.
This is most likely a species of Antrodiaetus, as I am unaware of any other mygalomorph spiders like this that range that far north. The single sclerite on the abdomen is also pretty diagnostic. Neat spiders! Yes, it is a female. Males have three sclerites on the abdomen. Watch for the males wandering in autumn.

 
Foldingdoor spider
Great, thank you! We couldn't get over the chelicera on her, and were so intrigued by the colour of the abdomen and size of what we figured were the spinnerets. Something we've never noticed before in an area with lots of spiders, so it was a great find. Just found another couple of guide locations for these here and here (this last one across Georgia Straight from where mine was located, but certainly same biogeoclimatic zone, and sounds exactly like the circumstances under which this one was found).

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