Idiosoma

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Automatic taxobox

Idiosoma is a genus of Australian armoured trapdoor spiders that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871.[1] Originally placed with the Ctenizidae, it was moved to the armoured trapdoor spiders in 1985.[2] The name is derived from the Greek Script error: No such module "Lang". (idios), meaning "individual, unique", and Script error: No such module "Lang". (soma), meaning "body", referring to the distinctive structure of the abdomen.[1]

Description

The skin of their abdomen is hardened, with a flattened end and deep grooves running along the sides. The thickened skin helps to reduce water loss in its dry habitat. It also serves as a kind of plug to shield itself from predators. This phenomenon is called phragmosis and occurs in perfection in the spider genus Cyclocosmia (Ctenizidae). However, some parasitic wasps have evolved paper-thin abdomens and long, slender ovipositors and lay their eggs on the softer skin at the front of the spider's abdomen.[3]

Females of the black rugose trapdoor spider (Idiosoma nigrum) can grow up to Script error: No such module "convert". long. Males can grow up to Script error: No such module "convert". in body length.

Behaviour

The spider digs burrows up to Script error: No such module "convert". deep, where the temperature is relatively constant through the seasons. When prey triggers any of the trip-lines radiating from the burrow's entrance, the spider runs out of the burrow to capture ants, beetles, cockroaches, millipedes or moths. This is unlike many trapdoor spiders that very rarely leave their burrow. Males actively look for females, and mating takes place in the female's burrow. She lays her eggs during late spring and early summer. The spiderlings hatch in mid-summer, and stay inside the burrow until early winter, when the weather becomes more humid.[3]

Species

since May 2019Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". the genus contained twenty-nine species from the states of New South Wales (NSW), South Australia (SA), Victoria (VIC) or Western Australia (WA):[4]

<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  2. Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  3. a b Australian Museum Online
  4. Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Further reading

  • Australian Museum Online (2003): Black Rugose Trapdoor Spider fact sheet — with picture
  • <templatestyles src="smallcaps/styles.css"/>Main, Barbara York (1952): Notes on the genus Idiosoma, a supposedly rare Western Australian trap-door spider. W. Aust. Nat. 3: 130–137.
  • <templatestyles src="smallcaps/styles.css"/>Main, Barbara York (1957): Biology of aganippine trapdoor spiders (Mygalomorphae: Ctenizidae). Aust. J. Zool. 5: 402–473.
  • <templatestyles src="smallcaps/styles.css"/>Main, Barbara York (1985): Further studies on the systematics of ctenizid trapdoor spiders: A review of the Australian genera (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Ctenizidae). Aust. J. Zool. (suppl. Ser.) 108: 1-84.

Template:Taxonbar