HARVEST SPIDERS OF NEW ZEALAND

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27435, 23 August 1954, Page 9

HARVEST SPIDERS OF NEW ZEALAND

Zealand Harvestaen,” published this month in Christchurch, is a monograph on the harvest spiders Zealand Prepared by Mr. R. R. Jorster, zoologist at the Canterbury Museum, and represents 13 years consistent work throughout New Zealand ana its outlying islands. i the spiders no bigger than a lentil, say l-16th of an inch across, and besides the field trips to collect thousands of them, (including scores of new species), the publication involved preparation of 329 pages of descriptive material, 781 line drawings copied in every detail from microscopic examination, and-the drafting of 1 \n} a P s on distribution. The laboratory work required the examination of 7000 specimens, whose collection involved''field trips by Mr Forster, or his scientific colleagues, from the Three Kings Group, north of North Cape, to Campbell Island in the sub-Antarctic group. In this total Mr Forster’s own field trips make an impressive list: Waikaremoana, Stewart Island, the Homer Tunnel and Eghnton Valley in 1946; Kapiti Island in 1947; Mt. Arthur (Nelson) in 1948; Stephens Island, Cook Strait, Caswell and George Sounds in 1949; Karamea in 1950; South Westland in 1951; and the Murchison Ranges, Lake Te Anau in 1952.

Mr Forster records more than 150 different species of which 120 were previously unknown and these form a small proportion of the collections made during these expeditions. Apart from the taxonomic description of the different species of harvest spiders and accounts of their habits, a section deals with the important conclusions, which Mr Forster draws from the geographical distribution of the species within New Zealand. -He correlates these with major land changes, which have occurred in New Zealand over the last million years. There is a suggestion that not many thousands of years ago the North and South Islands were connected by a

land bridge now cut through by Cook strait, while at a more remote period the North Island was dissected by straits in the vicinity of Auckland, and the Manawatu, and Hawkes Bay. This was the first scientific bulletin published from the museum’s own funds and as such would enhance the high reputation earned for publications since the museum printed its first annual “Record” in April, 1907, the Director (Dr. Roger Duff) told the Museum trust board when a resolution, was Carried congratulating Mr Forster on his work and expressing admiration for the vast amount of research involved. “Storehouse of Information” ‘

“Although bulletins such as these are directed particularly to a world scientific audience, they comprise the storehouses of information from which, museums obtain the data for their public educational programmes as expressed in popular articles, lectures, and gallery displays,” Dr. Duff said. About 650 copies would provide for the museum’s exchange list of over 300 institutions and interested individuals, leaving enough to satisfy all future demands. T-

Questioning the theory about prehistoric straits in New Zealand limiting the spread of certain species, Mr James Deans asked whether the spiders could have drifted on logs of wood.’ Dr. Duff said he was sure Mr Forster’s opinion was considered and responsible. The harvest spiders survived only on the forest floor, they could not cross streams, and they could not stand bright daylight.

“I shall never think of this work without recalling a night during preparations for the Canterbury centennial,” said, Mr Heathcote Helmorc.

“We were working the office here When Mr Forster came dashing down the corridor bursting to tell somebody of a discovery among his spiders. When he got back to his microscope the unique speciment had disappeared.”