A Common Urban Trapdoor Spider 
Simon Fearn 
O ne of my favourite Tasmanian spiders is the large, 
silvery-brown trapdoor spider Lycoso simonsi the 
females of which can grow to 33mm in body length. 
These spiders are extremely common, even in well 
established urban areas, but very cryptic and not often 
noticed by the casual observer. They dig vertical tunnels 
in hard compacted soils and clays on open sites with 
good drainage and exposed to full sun, this includes 
many roadside nature strips and urban lawns. The 
reason they are so rarely observed is the beautifully 
constructed lid made of soil and silk that the spider 
covers its burrow entrance with. At night the spider will 
open the lid and await passing insects and will also 
sometimes make foraging sorties up to a meter from its 
burrow. The females are the larger sex and rarely 
wander far from their burrows. Males on the other hand 
wander widely on warm early summer evenings in 
search of mates and often wander into ground floor 
rooms and sheds. With practice it can become quite 
easy to spot their burrow lids on hard ground and in 
some places they can form high population densities. 
The following photos are from the nature strip outside 
my house in Riverside, Launceston. 
Spot the spider burrow. This particular spider has been 
working on her burrow and this species deposits its 
diggings quite some distance from the burrow entrance- 
possibly to disguise its precise location. 
Photo: Simon Fearn 
The same burrow with lid open. Photo: Simon Fearn 
The spider itself. Note the enormous primary eyes and in 
particular the ones set further back at the end of a 
groove which would act in much the same way as 
looking down a gun sight. Also note the stiff black 
sensory hairs all over the animal's legs. There is 
definitely a wolf like mammalian quality to the 
countenance of this singular creature. 
Photo: Simon Fearn. 
Bruny Island Excursion May 2012 
Amanda Thomson 
ire weather during the week lead to a forecast of 
clearing showers in Hobart. At the ferry terminal 
was the ominous sign of 13 black cockatoos heading 
north. However all looked good - clear, the sun shining! 
12 adults, no children this time, we headed off in 3 cars. 
Arrived after 10 on the hilltop with views out to Cloudy 
and wasted no time in setting off. Lots of fungi were 
evident following the heavy rain. Some were lucky to see 
the white wallaby close to the houses. Passing through 
grassy paddocks the track then dropped down to a path 
with in some places ankle deep water and much frog 
calling. 
Tasmanian Field Naturalists Club 
Page 4 
BULLETIN 347 July 2012 
