New Zealand’s Only Venomous Animal

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31724, 6 July 1968, Page 5

New Zealand’s Only Venomous Animal

(Contributed by the Canterbury Museum) In the year 1856, Dr Ralph, of Wellington, first made known to the scientific world through the pages of the Linnaean Society of Great Britain, the presence of a deadly poisonous spider in New Zealand. He described, very briefly, the spider, its nesting habits and some experiments he had carried out on the potency of its venom.

The Maori name katipo signifies “night-stinger,” being derived from two words: kakati (to sting), and po (the night). Although the name katipo of old times was often applied to wasps or other stinging insects, it is now strictly reserved for New Zealand’s only venomous animal, the katipo spider. Fortunately it is confined almost entirely to coastal regions of New Zealand and is rarely found more than half to three-quarter miles inland.

the katipo. it is one of the most beautiful spiders found in New Zealand.

about half inch in diameter. The female cares for them until they hatch and she will, if considerable danger is imminent, quickly cut the threads holding the egg-sacs in her web and bundle them into a safe niche. Cannibalism Both of the egg-sacs we kept in the laboratory hatched out. The combined number totalled 62 spiderlings. Unfortunately, about threequarters of these were eaten by their brothers and sisters. Although this high rate of cannibalism occurred in the confined conditions of the laboratory, other biological studies have indicated that cannibalism in their natural habitat is also rather high—and there are one or two reports that the mother spider may sometimes eat her own young. For those readers who enjoy their week-end jaunts to the beach to collect driftwood: be careful, but not deterred by the possibility of encountering the katipo. Remember the distinctive red stripe of the female is a warning to all those who seek her, to let her pass unharmed—or take the consequences! And so, to quote the delightful “Bad Childs Book of Beasts,” “A good little child will not play with him.” —J.T.D. and M.M.D.

Only the female has poisonous fangs. Her body is about the size and shape of a pea covered in smooth black velvet, with a distinctive but sometimes irregular stripe of light orange to deep crimson down her back. The male katipo is much smaller; his abdomen is ovoid and the whole body is much lighter in colour. Variegated markings may be present or absent, but this is very variable and may depend on the maturity of the spider. Our observations indicate that the markings on the male disappear as the spider becomes older, until, after the first year, it presents itself as a drab, dark brown to black spider, devoid of other colour and markings. The katipo is relatively abundant on Canterbury coasts, but one must search carefully to locate its straggly silken web. Having once come to recognise the web in the crevices of driftwood, or more frequently the roots of tussocks, the female katipo is easily found and captured. When we visited the Ellesmere spit in late summer we found considerable numbers: in addition to securing 14 females and two males in less than one hour’s search, we also discovered two egg-sacs zealously guarded by a female. The egg-sacs, held in a jumbled mass of silk, were light brownish in colour and

The katipo is a member of the Latrodectus group of spiders, and its close cousins, reputably even more venomous, may be found in most of the warmer climates of the world. In Australia, it is known as the red-back or jockey spider: in America, as the black widow: in South Africa, as the knoppie spinnekop: in Central Asia, as the black wolf. Female Poisonous All these spiders are almost identical in shape and markings and all have one major thing in common: the potency of their venom. There are numerous accounts of people and animals being bitten by the katipo. In New Zealand, there are very few confirmed instances of death due to this spider; however, there are numerous records of bites which usually cause the recipient extreme pain and illness: Whatever our feeling of

The photograph shows a male (on left) and female katipo spider.