Rare trapdoor spider discovered on WA scientist’s doorstep

Although cutely called the citrine trapdoor for its small size, glossy sheen and bright orange or yellow gem-like appearance, Teyl luculentus hadn’t been sighted in three decades.

Imagine the excitement then when environmental scientists Dr Leanda Mason and Professor Kingsley Dixon literally unearthed one of the rare arachnids not in the obscurity of the wilderness but right outside their front door.

Teyl luculentus, a type of trapdoor spider, hadn’t been sighted in three decades.

In remnant scrub outside the University of Western Australia’s Shenton Park field station in suburban Perth, that is.

“For almost 50 years I have worked in this bushland and who would have thought such an extraordinary discovery would happen right on our doorstep, literally at the front door to the laboratory,” Dixon said.

“A rare triumph of nature holding on to life.”

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Although previously known to naturalists for some time, the Teyl genus was first described and classified by UWA zoologist Barbara York Main in 1975.

Since then, the Swan Coastal Plain surrounding Shenton Park has been built out with houses and infrastructure. The shiny little trapdoor subsequently went to ground without trace about 30 years ago.

“The name Teyl is derived from Noongar languages as a sign of respect and roughly translates into meaning shiny stone,” according to Mason, a research fellow at Edith Cowan University.

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