10 July,2026 08:22 PM IST | Mumbai | Ranjeet Jadhav
Tigidia singhal found near the Rehekuri Blackbuck Sanctuary in Karjat. Pic/Dr Rishikesh Tripathi, the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment
RESEARCHERS have discovered a new trapdoor spider species, Tigidia singhal, in the rocky semi-arid grasslands near the Rehekuri Blackbuck Sanctuary in Karjat tehsil of Ahilyanagar district of Maharashtra. The discovery has been published in the latest issue of Arachnology, the journal of the British Arachnological Society.
The spider belongs to the Barychelidae family, known for building silk-lined underground burrows hidden beneath camouflaged trapdoors. It ambushes insects, and occasionally small reptiles or mammals, by suddenly opening the trapdoor.
Until now, its seven Indian species were known only from evergreen, semi-evergreen, and deciduous forests of southern India. The new record from the Deccan Plateau's semi-arid grasslands marks a significant extension of its known range.
Trapdoor spiders are considered indicators of healthy ecosystems as they depend on stable, undisturbed soils and specialised microhabitats. Their poor dispersal ability also makes them highly vulnerable to habitat degradation, highlighting the need to conserve the Deccan Plateau's grasslands.
The discovery also underlines how little is known about India's mygalomorph spiders, one of the oldest evolutionary spider lineages. As these spiders spend most of their lives underground, they are difficult to detect, and researchers believe many more species remain undiscovered, particularly in lesser-studied open ecosystems.
The new species was described by Dr Rishikesh Tripathi and Dr Abi Tamim Vanak of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, along with Prasad Bolde of the Wildlife Institute of India. During a field study spanning over 18 months, the team documented several trapdoor spider species in the region.
However, Tigidia singhal was found only around Nandeshwar Mahadev Tekdi near the villages of Walwad and Kopardi, close to the sanctuary, indicating its extremely restricted distribution.
Dr Tripathi said the discovery highlights the rich biodiversity of Maharashtra's Deccan Plateau grasslands, which have long been dismissed as "wastelands". He said, "These habitats are rapidly disappearing due to farming, plantations, and industrial development, and stressed the need to document and conserve them before more undiscovered species are lost."
