Entomologists led by Dr Alejandro Valdez-Mondragón have described a new species of spider from a tropical rainforest in Veracruz, Mexico.

The new species, named Paratropis tuxtlensis, belongs to the enigmatic family Paratropididae.

Members of this spider family are well known for their unique camouflaging abilities. Paratropis tuxtlensis is not the exception – its entire body is encrusted with soil particles.

The encrusted soil on the exoskeleton of Paratropis tuxtlensis could provide protection from predators or serve as camouflage to deceive its prey. The soil particles are because the spider has glandular pores in the cuticle and their secretion help to stick the soil particles.

Paratropis tuxtlensis is very cryptic, which coupled with lack of movement when exposed makes it quite difficult to find and collect.

Paratropis tuxtlensis is known only from the region around the type locality in the Volcán San Martin Biosphere Reserve, Mexico.

Typically, the spider doesn’t make burrows but rely on its camouflage to hide under rocks and in the soil.

“The specimens were collected in tropical rain-forest, under boulders on the ground,” said Dr Valdez-Mondragón, the first author of a paper published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

“They remained motionless when they were exposed by removing the rock that provided shelter, possibly as a defense mechanism because the soil particles encrusted on the body cuticle serves as camouflage with the moist ground.”

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Valdez-Mondragón A et al. 2014. First record of the mygalomorph spider family Paratropididae (Arachnida, Araneae) in North America with the description of a new species of Paratropis Simon from Mexico, and with new ultramorphological data for the family. ZooKeys 416: 1–21; doi: 10.3897/zookeys.416.7253