About Tigidia singhal:
- It is a new species of trapdoor spider.
- It was discovered from the semi-arid grasslands of the Deccan Plateau in Maharashtra.
- The discovery brings the number of Tigidia species in India to eight. Spiders of the genus Tigidia occur only in Madagascar, Mauritius, and India.
- Until now, species of this genus were known from peninsular India’s tropical evergreen and deciduous forests, particularly the Western and Eastern Ghats.
- singhal is the first record of this genus from a semi-arid open natural ecosystem.
What are Trapdoor Spiders?
- Trapdoor spiders are long-living, sedentary spiders that spend most of their lives in burrows, rarely leaving except to search for a mate.
- The doors of silk, soil, moss, and leaves that many species construct to camouflage their burrows give this group its name.
- This adaptation has great advantages for the spider, providing protection against desiccation and predators and enabling efficient prey capture.
- They feed by quickly opening the trap door and grabbing an insect or other arthropod that is passing close by.
- Trapdoor spider burrows aerate soil, maintain soil structure, and provide microhabitats for other organisms.
- Highly sensitive to habitat disturbances, these spiders also serve as ecological indicators, with their presence suggesting a healthy ecosystem and rich soil biodiversity.
- They belong to the infraorder Mygalomorphae, which also includes tarantulas and funnel-web spiders.
- The genus Tigidia falls within the family Barychelidae (brush-footed spiders) — one of India’s nine mygalomorph families.
