Porongurup Trapdoor Spider
Cataxia bolganupensis
photographed by M. Harvey
Cataxia bolganupensis has a highly restricted distribution in the Porongurup National Park, where it can be found in wet karri forest on the southern side of the range. It is currently known only from the Millinup Pass and Bolganup Creek areas, but is usually locally abundant and may be found in other small pockets of the park. This species builds a palisade burrow with a fully open hole and no door, which is usually adorned with a radial skirt of leaves and twigs. Based on the few specimens that have been collected, males probably wander and mate in late autumn or winter.
This species has a total (maximum) extent of occurrence of less than 50 km2, and an actual area of occupancy of less than 10 km2. Given that the number of well-defined locations at which the species has been found is less than five, and that there is continuing decline in the quality of habitat in the Porongurup National Park due to climate change in south-western Australia (Indian Ocean Climate Initiative 2002; Barrett & Yates 2015), and a potential increase in the severity and/or frequency of wildfires (e.g. as in 2007), this species is considered to be ‘endangered’ (IUCN B1, B2a, b[iii])
www.researchgate.net/publication/322243265_Systematics_of_the_spiny_trapdoor_spiders_of_the_genus_Cataxia_Mygalomorphae_Idiopidae_from_southwestern_Australia_Documenting_a_threatened_fauna_in_a_sky-island_landscape
This species has a total (maximum) extent of occurrence of less than 50 km2, and an actual area of occupancy of less than 10 km2. Given that the number of well-defined locations at which the species has been found is less than five, and that there is continuing decline in the quality of habitat in the Porongurup National Park due to climate change in south-western Australia (Indian Ocean Climate Initiative 2002; Barrett & Yates 2015), and a potential increase in the severity and/or frequency of wildfires (e.g. as in 2007), this species is considered to be ‘endangered’ (IUCN B1, B2a, b[iii])
www.researchgate.net/publication/322243265_Systematics_of_the_spiny_trapdoor_spiders_of_the_genus_Cataxia_Mygalomorphae_Idiopidae_from_southwestern_Australia_Documenting_a_threatened_fauna_in_a_sky-island_landscape
Genus: The spiny trapdoor spiders of the Cataxia iconic for their unusual ‘sky-island’ biogeography with their short-range endemism
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Bolganup Homestead is a heritage farm owned and run by the Faulkner family for over 100 years at the base of the ancient Porongurup Ranges and national park.
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We acknowledge the Minang Bibbulmun people as the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to the Elders, past, present, and emerging and to the wider Bibbulmun community.
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