Appearance

• A brown-coloured spider, with a body length of 2 – 3.5cm. Sometimes mistaken for a funnel-web or mouse spider.
• The female is usually larger than the male, which is distinguished by gloved-shaped palps.
• Trapdoor spiders have a glossy carapace, short spinnerets and three rows of eyes.

Life Cycle

• Following impregnation, the female lays its eggs in a cocoon, which it guards in its burrow. Upon hatching, the spiderlings stay in the mother’s burrow for some time.
• The male dies shortly after mating with the female.

Habits

• Trapdoor spiders build burrows with or without trapdoors.
• Unlike a funnel-web spider, a trapdoor spider doesn’t create silk trip-lines around its burrow.
• Trapdoor spiders are less aggressive than funnel-web spiders, but they can still bite if provoked.
• A bite from a trapdoor spider doesn’t usually require emergency medical treatment.