Arachnura feredayi

Last updated

Arachnura feredayi
Arachnura feredayi 29082406.jpg
Status NZTCS NT.svg
Not Threatened (NZ TCS)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Araneidae
Genus: Arachnura
Species:
A. feredayi
Binomial name
Arachnura feredayi
(L. Koch, 1871)
Synonyms

Arachnura longicauda Urquhart, 1885
Arachnura longicauda nigritia Urquhart, 1885
Arachnura obtusa Urquhart, 1885

Contents

Arachnura feredayi, the tailed forest spider, is endemic to New Zealand. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] it is known for the distinctive tapering body shape in females which are also much larger than males, and for producing vertical columns of eggsacs in the 12 o'clock position in their webs. [6]

Description

Arachnura feredayi females reach up to 18 mm in length, with about a third of that length consisting of a tail-like ending of the abdomen. Colouring is variable, with yellow or yellow-green variants common. [6] Males are much smaller (about 2 mm long), lack the female's 'tail' and are coloured in shades of brown. [1] This species is most similar to Arachnura higginsi from Australia, but the two species can be separated by structural differences in the male palp and female epigynum. [1] Arachnura higginsi has also been reported as making aggregations of distinct but connected webs, but this has not been observed in A. feredayi. [6]

Taxonomy

Arachnura feredeyi was originally described by L. Koch in 1872 under the genus Epeira. [7] It is the sole member of the genus recorded from New Zealand and is an endemic species. [1] Urquhart described several species of Arachnura but these were synonmised (see Synonyms) by Bryant in 1933. [1] The Australian and New Zealand species of Arachnura were revised by Castanheira et al. in 2019. [1]

Biology

Tailed forest spiders make an orb web, usually close to the ground. This web always has a V-shaped sector in the 12 o'clock position that is empty of spiral threads. [6] This is where the female will deposit her eggsacs in a vertical column resembling a chain of sausage links. [8] The newest eggsac is located nearest to the web's central hub and the female rebuilds her web every time she produces a new eggsac in order to maintain this positioning. [6]

Distribution

These spiders are found in forests and gardens. [8] They are only found in New Zealand and have been recorded from Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands, the North Island and the South Island. [1]

Conservation Status

This species has been listed as Not Threatened under the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orb-weaver spider</span> Family of spiders

Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.

<i>Arachnura</i> Genus of spiders

Arachnura, also known as drag-tailed spider, scorpion-tailed spider and scorpion spider, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders that was first described by A. Vinson in 1863. They are distributed across Australasia, Southern and Eastern Asia with one species from Africa. Females can grow up to 1 to 3 centimetres long, while males reach only 2 millimetres (0.079 in) long. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek "arachne-" (ἀράχνη) and "uro" (οὐρά), meaning "tail". The tails are only present on females, but unlike the common names suggests, these spiders aren't related to scorpions. They curl up their tails when disturbed, but they are completely harmless. Bites are rare, and result in minor symptoms such as local pain and swelling. They stay at the middle of their web day and night, and their bodies mimic plant litter, such as fallen flowers, twigs, or dead leaves.

<i>Argiope protensa</i> Species of spider

Argiope protensa, commonly known as the tailed grass spider or teardrop spider, is a species of spider in the orb weaver family, Araneidae. This species is fairly common and widespread in Australasia, but like many spider species, little is known of its ecology, biology, or life history.

<i>Socca pustulosa</i> Species of arachnid

Socca pustulosa is a Orb-weaver spider species in the family Araneidae, and it was first described by a French scientist Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1841 from Tasmania, Australia, but later on when Walckenaer examined the specimen collected from New Zealand and renamed it as a different species- Epeira verrucosa. Until 1917, Dalmas reviewed the Australian pustulosa and New Zealand verrucosa and realized they were the same species. Although S. pustulosa has been accepted for some time in the genus of Eriophora, the evidence supporting its placement within this genus were not fully convincing. Therefore, an alternative view was proposed in 2022- a new genus established to accommodate pustulosa along with 11 other spider species from Australia; the diagnostic test based on haplotype analysis and systematic morphology study by arachnologists and found the anatomical features of male pedipalp terminal apophysis differs from other orb-web species.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Castanheira, Pedro DE S.; Didham, Raphael K.; Vink, Cor J.; Framenau, Volker W. (2019-12-06). "The scorpion-tailed orb-weaving spiders (Araneae, Araneidae, Arachnura) in Australia and New Zealand". Zootaxa. 4706 (1): 147–170. doi:10.11646/ZOOTAXA.4706.1.6. PMID   32230556. S2CID   214008307.
  2. ↑ "Arachnura feredayi (L. Koch, 1871)". New Zealand Organisms Register. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  3. ↑ Paquin, Pierre (2010). Spiders of New Zealand : annotated family key & species list. Lincoln, N.Z.: Manaaki Whenua Press. ISBN   978-0-478-34705-0.
  4. ↑ "Tailed Forest Spider (Arachnura feredayi)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  5. ↑ "Arachnura feredayi (L. Koch, 1871)". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Forster, Raymond Robert; Forster, Lyndsay McLaren (1999-01-01). Spiders of New Zealand and their Worldwide Kin. Otago University Press, Otago Museum.
  7. ↑ "Die Arachniden Australiens nach der Natur beschrieben und abgebildet". www.wikidata.org. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  8. 1 2 Pollard, Simon; Sirvid, Philip John (2021-01-01). Why is that Spider Dancing? The Amazing Arachnids of Aotearoa. Te Papa Press.
  9. ↑ Sirvid, P. J.; Vink, C. J.; Fitzgerald, B. M.; Wakelin, M. D.; Rolfe, J.; Michel, P. (2020-01-01). "Conservation status of New Zealand Araneae (spiders), 2020". New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 34: 1–37.
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