Trivia question for Sep-12-2011

Olivia found these huge invertebrates interesting so she is featuring them in her trivia.  These are large spiders similar to tarantulas, but with bodies that have less hair.  They dig tubelike burrows in the ground sealed with a hinged lid.

Females never travel far from their burrows, especially if they have an egg sac. During this time, the female will capture food and regurgitate it to feed her spiderlings. Enemies of these spiders include certain pompilids (spider wasps), which seek out the burrows and manage to gain entrance. They sting the owner and lay their eggs (usually one per spider) on its body. When the egg hatches, the larva devours the spider alive.

So here are Olivia’s questions.  Tell us what kind of spider this is and tell us how they make their hinged doors?  Also, tell us which type of these spiders holds the record for being the strongest spider?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations goes out to Angela Williams for being the first to identify the cool spider we featured. This is a Trapdoor Spider. Trapdoor spiders are medium-sized mygalomorph spiders that construct burrows with a cork-like trapdoor made of soil, vegetation and silk.

The California trapdoor spider holds the record for the strongest spider; when scientists opened its trapdoor, the spider resisted a force equal to 10-lbs.  Here is more in these crafty spiders: Trapdoor Spiders

Thanks for playing along 😉