Rare, armoured trapdoor spiders native to Western Australia have already been added to the threatened species list, despite being just recently discovered.

Dr Michael Rix, the lead scientist of a research team studying the invertebrates, said the species were very distinct from other trapdoor spiders as they possessed armoured shields or "body armour" to defend against natural predators — something only a few spiders in the world are able to do.

"This entire group, we refer to them as shield-back trapdoor spiders — they have these modified abdomens that are thickened and reinforced," he said.

"They use their bodies to defend their burrows, which is really unusual, and they carry their own body armour permanently."

A team of researchers from Queensland Museum, Western Australian Museum, the University of Adelaide and the South Australian Museum have been working on a project for the past six years to closely identify the native species in the genus Idiosoma.

The 17 species of spiders — 16 of which are found in WA — have only just been given a name by scientists to help ensure their survival.

"It's really hard to conserve something from a legislative point of view if it doesn't have a scientific name — this is the first step," Dr Rix said.

"Three of them are now on the WA threatened species list and one of those three is on the Commonwealth threatened species list.

"The others will no doubt will be listed in the future — that's a formal process and it's something we need to go through."

The trapdoor spiders' habitat is under threat in the state. ( Supplied: Western Australian Museum )

Dr Rix said the spiders were valuable because they were an indicator of the health of their habitat, with 15 of the 17 West Australian species only found in the state's south-west.

One species is found in the Wheatbelt.

"They are very much West Australians," he said.

"Many of them seem to have really small natural ranges and that's problematic for them because humans are having such broad-scale impacts on the natural environment.

Dr Rix said environmental clearings are having a devastating impact on their habitat, including the fragmentation of the landscape and human activities.

"It is extremely concerning — in places like the Wheatbelt we've already lost much of the mammal fauna, we've already lost many elements of bird and vertebrate fauna and now it seems we're losing elements of the invertebrates.

"Every time we lose part of the ... fauna, it's hard to get them back."

He said dry land salinity, climate change, feral predators and mining all had an impact on the habitats of the spiders.

"These spiders have existed for a long time — they can survive a lot," he said.

"The trapdoor method of survival is to stay put, burrow down and see out the good times and the bad times and persist in what are often quite difficult environments — but they can't do that if we destroy those landscapes."