Calommata signata

size 1/2” a 1” (sub adults to adults) 

This incredible purse web type spiders from  China, Korea and Japan are quite the site. They almost look like something is wrong with them with their ability to bend their fangs back all the way to the top of their carapace. Their unique hunting style is incredible to watch. Give them 6”- 10” inches of dirt to dig in, and they will make a perfect circular burrow in it. They will rotate 360 degrees in this burrow as prey gets closer, piercing the unsuspecting prey with their ridiculously large fangs. These don’t built the traditional purse web up the sides of a tree. Their burrow stays flush with the ground. Described by Dr. Ferdinand Anton Franz Karsch in 1879.