Chinese villager finds ‘cultural seal’ ... that turns out to be rare spider first recorded 1,000 years ago

A Chinese villager working in his garden was shocked to find a rare spider with an unusual flat patterned disc on its abdomen – sightings of which were first recorded in an ancient book written more than 1,000 years ago, mainland media reports.

He thought the unusual markings on the spider’s flat abdomen meant he had uncovered a cultural relic while working beside tangerine trees at his home in Pujiang county, near Chengdu, in Sichuan province.

However, when he crouched down to take a closer look he saw it moving and realised it was actually an arachnid, the report said. He then put the spider inside a plastic bottle and took it home.

The spider, known as the Chinese hourglass trapdoor, or Cyclocosmia ricketti, was first identified and named in Southeast Asia in 1901. The species was first seen in mainland China in the mountainous area of Lushan county in Sichuan province in 2000.

Since then, only six sightings of the spider have been reported in the wild.