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Unexpectedly, there is a knock at the door.

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Chinese hourglass spider - 里氏盤腹蛛 - Cyclocosmia ricketti

The Chinese hourglass spider is a fascinating species of arachnid, a very rare one at that ! Between the years 2000 and 2016 ONLY six of these spiders have been spotted in China, that we know of.

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Description

Cyclocosmia ricketti has a very distinctive disk on its abdomen which resembles an ancient coin, a seal, or even a grinding disc. The male Cyclocosmia ricketti are about 20.5 millimetres in length while the females of the species tend to be slightly bigger at around 25.83 to 30.0 millimetres in length. The largest known specimens can exceed 30 millimetres. The disk located on its abdomen typically has a radius of around 16 millimetres.

Extract from 'Zhu, Zhang & Zhang, 2006 : Rare spiders of the genus Cyclocosmia (Arachnida: Araneae: Ctenizidae) from tropical and subtropical China.' Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, vol. 54, No. 1, p. 119-124

According to Zhao Li, Director and Senior Biological Engineer of the Insect Museum of West China in Chengdu, Sichuan, Cyclocosmia ricketti is a nocturnal animal.

Predation behaviour

Cyclocosmia ricketti, like many other trapdoor spiders, dig burrows which are closed off by hatches in the ground. They do this instead of making webs, as they are not good at spinning silk, to catch their prey. They line their burrows with silk threads and mud. They use their disk to plug the opening of the burrow. When a small insect would step on its disk, Cyclocosmia ricketti will then purportedly shrink its abdomen to allow its prey to fall further into its burrow to be devoured. The disk also makes it difficult for its prey to escape from its grasp.

Cyclocosmia ricketti doesn't always use this method to hunt, as when its confronted with a non-threatening insect, Cyclocosmia ricketti will get out of its burrow and then directly grab it to eat it. This spider can also use the coin-shaped disk on its abdomen to protect itself from enemies by blocking the entrance to its burrow with it, and using it as a shield, a phenomenon called 'phragmosis'.

Distribution

Cyclocosmia ricketti are found in the Chinese provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Sichuan. They are primarily found living in caves. The farthest north they are known to have been found is Sichuan, this is notable as it was previously believed that Cyclocosmia ricketti were not able to survive in places where the temperature could drop below 13 degrees Celsius. Winters in the province of Sichuan are known to get even colder.

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Image sources:

1.

https://za.pinterest.com/pin/604186106296940858/

2.

https://spidershoppe.com/products/cyclocosmia-ricketti-chinese-hourglass-trapdoor-sub-adults

3.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070811074158/http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/54/54rbz119-124.pdf

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Text references:

1.

Zhu, Zhang & Zhang, 2006 : Rare spiders of the genus Cyclocosmia (Arachnida: Araneae: Ctenizidae) from tropical and subtropical China. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, vol. 54, No. 1, p. 119-124

https://web.archive.org/web/20070811074158/http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/54/54rbz119-124.pdf

2.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclocosmia_ricketti

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That happened to me

European garden spider (Araneus diadematus)/korsspindel. Huddinge in Stockholm, Södermanland, Sweden (August 18, 2013).