Image of Antrodiaetus riversi

Description:

Most of my attempts to illicit strike responses from turret spiders end in failure, but for whatever reason Trent was able to get this one to cooperate. I tried to reciprocate but again without luck. Trent was gently stroking the edge of the turret with a twig, whereas I was poking it, so maybe the key is to immitate a smaller insect. There's anecdotal evidence to suggest that they eat ants, so maybe think ant-sized movements. Also, you need to do it under cover of full darkness for them to be staged near the burrow entrance (though they seemed willing to strike under flashlight illumination). Note the deep, transverse foveal groove and the sclerite on the abdomen, both indicative of the former genus Atypoides (Adams 2014).