Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Photo#21373
Foldingdoor spider - Antrodiaetus - female

Foldingdoor spider - Antrodiaetus - Female
Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada
April 15, 2005
I found this spider in my backyard flower garden while I was diging up some dirt. It seems to fit the trap door spider description. I probably dug him up out of his happy home.

Images of this individual: tag all
Foldingdoor spider - Antrodiaetus - female A spider found in my garden - Antrodiaetus

Foldingdoor spider.
This is a female foldingdoor spider in the family Antrodiaetidae. It is probably Antrodiaetus pacificus, definitely in that genus anyway. They are very "primitive" spiders. Your images show nicely the "tergite," a hardened plate on her abdomen. The male has three tergites. They are the evolutionary remnants of a time when spiders had fully-segmented bodies. Neat spiders:-)

 
Lots of foldingdoor spiders
Thanks Eric. I took a trip into my garden tonight and found about a dozen of them peeking out of their holes at the base of an old stump. I just sat there for about 45 minutes watching little bugs walk through the area as the spiders pounced from their tunnels. There were a couple large ones but most were still medium to small. Most had their doors open, but a couple surpised me as they seem to pounce from nowhere. Fascinating stuff.

 
moved
I created a guide page and moved your image there.

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.