Thousands of terrified people have been locking their doors after a photo was shared on Reddit of a small hole in someone’s backyard.
A man from Australia discovered a deep hole the size of a coin and posted a picture of it on social media in an attempt to get to the bottom of what it might actually be.
He asked fellow Reddit users: “I’m in Adelaide Hills – can someone tell me what lives in here?”
Many people replying to the photo quickly decided it could be home to some spiders – especially a trapdoor spider or wolf spider.
Several shared their own stories about encounters they have had with trapdoor spiders.
One wrote: “That is probably a burrow of a trapdoor spider. Most of them don’t really build doors.”
Another commented: “There are thousands of these holes in the park across from my house – they’re all trapdoor spiders.
“I get a kick whenever I see people sunbathing or sitting on the grass, blissfully unaware of the horror sitting below them.”
But many other people were convinced the strange hole in the man’s garden is actually the home of a wolf spider, which is commonly found on lawns and in gardens.
One woman wrote: “I will never forget the time I tried to catch and release a large wolf spider under a container, only to find it was covered in 100s of baby wolf spiders – who were small enough to escape in all directions.”
Another Reddit user commented: “Absolutely a lycosidae spider burrow (wolf spider).
“Unfortunately trap doors are on the decline, the vast majority of burrows you find (everywhere from in your lawn to in native bushland) will be wolf spider burrows.”
Trapdoor spiders live underground in burrows covered with doors that are normally made out of leaves or sticks, according to the Australia Museum. Most are black or brown in color and have short, blunt spinnerets.
They usually eat a number of insects such as crickets, moths, beetles, and grasshoppers that they are able to catch from the edge of their burrow.
Their venom is not considered lethal to humans although anyone bitten by a trapdoor spider will feel mild pain and experience some swelling.
In contrast, wolf spiders live on the ground in leaf litter or burrows and are normally found in lawns and gardens. They mostly feed on ground-dwelling invertebrates, predominately insects.
Most have brown and yellow or black and white patterns on their bodies. Like the trapdoor spider, it is not considered dangerous to humans, who will feel small pain or itchiness if they are bitten.
