Waiporia modica

Waiporia modica
Conservation status
Data Deficient (NZ TCS)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Orsolobidae
Genus:	Waiporia
Species:	W. modica
Binomial name
Waiporia modica (Forster, 1956)
Synonyms
Ascuta modica

Waiporia modica is a species of Orsolobidae that is endemic to New Zealand. ^[1]

Taxonomy

This species was described as Ascuta mensa in 1956 by Ray Forster from a male specimen collected in Christchurch. ^[1] In 1985, it was moved into the Waiporia genus and the female was described. ^[2] The holotype is stored in Canterbury Museum. ^[1]

Description

The male is recorded at 2.13mm in length whereas the female is 2.47mm. This species has dark brown legs, dark orange brown carapace and a creamy white abdomen that has a chevron pattern dorsally. ^{[1] [2]}

Distribution

This species is only known from Christchurch and Banks Peninsula in New Zealand. ^{[1] [2]}

Conservation status

Under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, this species is listed as "Data Deficient" with the qualifiers of "Data Poor: Size" and "Data Poor: Trend". ^[3]

References

1. Forster, R. R (1956). "New Zealand spiders of the family Oonopidae". Records of the Canterbury Museum. 7: 89–169.
2. Forster, R.R; Platnick, N.L (1985). "A review of the austral spider family Orsolobidae (Arachnida, Araneae), with notes on the superfamily Dysderoidea". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 181: 1–230.
3. 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" (PDF). New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 34: 1–37.