A new genus and species, Desognanops humphreysi, are described for a remarkable blind trochanteriid spider taken from bores in the interior of Western Australia. Desognanops, gen. nov. is hypothesised to represent the sister-group of the tropical rainforest genus Desognaphosa, suggesting that the new genus may be a subterranean relict of a biota adapted to moister conditions than are found on the surface today.