RIP, spider friend

Our dryer went out temporarily this afternoon so I dumped our wet clothes and sheets into a basket, then walked cross the street to a neighbor's house to borrow her dryer. On the way, a glossy black thing on our driveway caught my eye. A spider! But on his last legs. Alas, a closer inspection told me he was DEAD. On my return trip, I went in the house for my camera. Even though he was no longer among the living, he certainly deserved to be documented.

This handsome fellow (yes, it's a male) likely belongs to Cytaucheniidae, a wafer trapdoor family of spiders. I found a female nearly five years ago ("Trapdoor spider"), so I know we have them in our Wildscape. They're very elusive and rarely spotted because they stay underground mostly. Their burrows are hard to find, too, because they construct a pliable, wafer-thin lid made of silk to camouflage the entrance hole. This guy was likely out, looking for a lady. RIP!