A rare spider found in China is giving spiders in Australia a run for their money.
Li Wenhua, an orange farmer in China, came across something he thought was an ancient cultural relic. However, it was a spider that’s a member of an ancient spider species.
Wenhua had stumbled upon the “Chinese hourglass spider.” Zhao Li, head of the Insect Museum of West China, confirmed the arachnid Wenhua found was indeed a rare, Chinese hourglass spider.
The Chinese hourglass spider is a type of trap door spider. Trapdoor spiders are rarely seen. They live their lives in underground borrows that are covered by “trapdoors.” Trapdoors are created by the spider and serves the purpose of hiding the spider when it’s hunting for food.
Li stated the spider has a high value in scientific research. The spider is one of the earliest spiders to be documented in China; it’s only been sighted six times in the past 17 years.
Wenhua plans to sell the spider as a pet, hoping its rarity will result in a good price.