Researchers recently discovered a rare species of giant spider living in Queensland, Australia. They believe that it is necessary to find a way to protect this species.

Euoplos dignitas in Queensland, Australia. Photo: Michael Rix.

A tarantula-like creature of the golden trapdoor spider of the genus Euoplos has been the subject of an extensive research program since 2017, according to research published March 15 in the journal Arachnology.

The species, now known as Euoplos dignita, was first discovered in the early 20th century near the towns of Monto and Eidsvold, said study author Michael Rix. However, it has yet to be fully described or named because of a lack of information, CNN reported.

Over the years, there have been only a handful of specimens of Euoplos dignita at the Queensland museum, mostly from before the 1970s. None of these, however, were male spiders, a major hindrance to his team’s research. Rix.

During their search, they finally discovered Euoplos dignitas on a road in the Eidsvold-Monto region in May 2021.

According to Rix, dignitas in Latin means “dignity or greatness, related to the extraordinary nature of this spider”. “This is a big and beautiful spider,” said Rix.

According to the study, the female has a reddish-brown dorsal thorax, has nest-building behavior and can grow to more than 5cm long – a “very large” size for this spider. Males have prominent honey-red dorsal and legs, while abdomens are grayish-brown.

These spiders can live for a very long time, up to decades.

Research indicates the need to protect this rare spider species. When locating the male Euoplos dignitas specimen, they observed that most of its natural habitat had been displaced by agriculture or severely impacted.

“Until the detailed survey is completed, we do not know how many populations there are. However, the range of this species is very small, and we only discovered one (specimen) alive at the time,” Rix said.