A rare type of giant spider seen in Australia

(CNN) – A large new species of spider has been found in Queensland, Australia, and researchers say it needs protection.

Rare and colorful, the tarantula-like creature is a species of golden spider that belongs to the genus Tarantula upluswhich since 2017 has been the subject of an extensive research program, according to The study was published March 15 in the journal Spider Science Journal.

call now Eublos CrementaThe species was first discovered in the early 20th century near the towns of Monto and Eidsfold, but has remained undescribed and unnamed due to a lack of research, study author Michael Ricks, Senior Curator of Anthropology at Queensland Museums Network, said via email.

For years, there were only a few copies Eublos Crementa In the Queensland Museum’s collection, all but one had been collected before the 1970s, and there was no known male among them, which posed a major obstacle for Rex and his research team.

A journey of rediscovery

It is important to have a sample of males to be able to identify and name the species within the order Mygalomorphaeto which spiders belong uplusexplains Paula Cushing, senior curator of vertebrate zoology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Cushing, who is also secretary of the American Spider Society, was not involved in the study.

He added, “Often, to find out if what you’re looking at is new to science, almost always, with spiders, you have to examine the genitals.”

So the researchers needed new genetic material that they could analyze in a live male sample, which meant they had to find one.

After three days of searching in May 2021, they finally found what they were looking for on a road in the Eidsvold-Monto area. It was the first group of genres since the 1990s.

After comparing their find with other specimens in the museum’s collection, the research team formally described it Euoplos VIP. Generous Rex said YouTube video Published by the Queensland Museums Network. “She’s a big, beautiful kind.”

Females of this species have a reddish-brown pelage, behave like burrowing spiders, and can reach 5 centimeters in length, which is “very large” for this species of spider, according to the study. Males have a “pronounced honey-red carapace and legs”, with a greyish-brown belly.

protection from Euoplos VIP

Researchers have also discovered that this rare species needs protection. When the researchers selected a sample of males Euoplos VIPMost of the roadside habitats normally available for this species have been cleared for agriculture or severely disturbed, which is “extremely destructive to trapdoor spiders, their burrows, and habitat integrity,” the researchers note.

“Until detailed studies are done, we won’t know how many residents are left,” Ricks says. “But the natural range of the species is small[and]very fragmented, and we were only able to detect one living[specimen]at that time.”