Fine example of a Malaysian spider. He is one of those clever spiders who build their own caves and pop out and grab any prey that wanders too close to the opening. Identified as Liphistius desultor, this trap door spider drawing comes from the 1911 Encyclopedia.
At first glance, I thought it might be a drawing of a tarantula, but, apparently they are not the only large and hairy spiders living among us. They do grow to 4 to 4.5 inches. But, they are brightly colored. Their bodies are an orange-coral like color and their legs are blue-ish black. They are a protected species in their native Malaysia and some believe that if an isolated habitat is destroyed, the species may go extinct. The biggest dangers for them are habitat loss and collection for the pet trade.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
