Number 16 ( – 2016), also known as #16,
[ was a wild female trapdoor spider ('' Gaius villosus,'' family ]Idiopidae
Idiopidae, also known as armored or spiny trapdoor spiders, is a family of mygalomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon
Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly o ...
) that lived in North Bungulla Reserve near Tammin, Western Australia. She lived an estimated 43 years and became the longest-lived spider
Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
on record, beating a 28-year-old tarantula who previously held the title.wasp
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...
sting.
Long-term monitoring
In March 1974, Australian arachnologist Barbara York Main
Barbara Anne York Main (27 January 1929 – 14 May 2019) Ann Jones (2019"Barbara York Main, Australia's spider woman and Wheatbelt advocate, author and poet dies"''Off Track'', Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Published May 23, 2019. Acces ...
began a long-term study of spider families. She marked off ten spiders and returned the following year to find new spiderlings, including Number 16, that had likely been born after the first autumn rain of 1974.burrow
file:Chipmunk-burrow (exits).jpg, An eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow
A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of Animal lo ...
, subsisting off the edible insects that walked on her burrow's trapdoor-like silk roof.[ As Number 16 became older, Main and her researchers developed a tradition of always checking her burrow first.][ For her 40th birthday, research assistant Leanda Mason wanted to give the spider a mealworm, but Main denied the request since it would interfere with the study.]The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' reported. Finally, when Main's own health declined before the spider's, she passed the project on to Leanda Mason.
Death
On 31 October 2016, researcher Leanda Mason discovered Number 16's burrow in disrepair. The spider was gone. Evidence suggested she was killed by a parasitic spider wasp which had pierced the silk plug of her burrow.[ Based on the burrow fidelity of females of her species, the researchers concluded with a "high level of certainty" that Number 16 was 43 years old at the time of her death.][
After retiring, ]Barbara York Main
Barbara Anne York Main (27 January 1929 – 14 May 2019) Ann Jones (2019"Barbara York Main, Australia's spider woman and Wheatbelt advocate, author and poet dies"''Off Track'', Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Published May 23, 2019. Acces ...
moved to a care facility for Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
. Leanda Mason, who kept in contact with her mentor, said in 2018 that Barbara "remembers No. 16" but "forgets that she's died."
References
Notes
Citations
{{DEFAULTSORT:16, Number
Individual animals in Australia
1973 animal births
Spiders of Australia
2016 animal deaths
Idiopidae
Individual wild animals
Individual arthropods