Spelungula

The Nelson cave spider (Spelungula) is a monotypic genus of South Pacific large-clawed spiders containing the single species, Spelungula cavernicola. It was first described by Raymond Robert Forster, Norman I. Platnick, & Michael R. Gray in 1987,[2] and has only been found in caves in the northwestern part of New Zealand's South Island.[1][3]

Spelungula
Nelson cave spider, Oparara basin, Karamea, New Zealand
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Gradungulidae
Genus: Spelungula
Forster, 1987[1]
Species:
S. cavernicola
Binomial name
Spelungula cavernicola
Forster, 1987

It is one of the few spider species afforded legal protected under the New Zealand Wildlife Act.[4][5] It is classed as "Range Restricted" and stable in the New Zealand Threat Classification System.[6]

Etymology

The genus name is derived from "spelunca", which is latin for cave and is feminine in gender. The species name "cavernicola" refers to the species restriction to caves.[2]

Description

It is New Zealand's largest known spider, with a legspan of 13 to 15 centimetres (5.1 to 5.9 in) and a body length of 2.4 centimetres (0.94 in), and its main prey is cave weta.[7][8]

See also

References
  1. Gloor, Daniel; Nentwig, Wolfgang; Blick, Theo; Kropf, Christian (2019). "Gen. Spelungula Forster, 1987". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  2. Forster, R. R.; Platnick, N. I.; Gray, M. R. (1987). "A review of the spider superfamilies Hypochiloidea and Austrochiloidea (Araneae, Araneomorphae)". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 185: 1–116.
  3. Sirvid, P. J.; Vink, C. J.; Wakelin, M. D.; Fitzgerald, B. M.; Hitchmough, R. A.; Stringer, I. A.N. (2012). "The conservation status of New Zealand Araneae". New Zealand Entomologist. 35 (2): 85–90. doi:10.1080/00779962.2012.686310. ISSN 0077-9962.
  4. Faulls, D. (1991). "Eight legs, two fangs and an attitude". New Zealand Geographic (10): 68–96.
  5. Wildlife Act - Schedule 7 Terrestrial and freshwater invertebrates declared to be animals
  6. Molloy, Janice; et al. (2002). "Classifying species according to threat of extinction. A system for New Zealand" (PDF). Department of Conservation (New Zealand). Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  7. McLachlan, Andrew. "Nelson cave spider". www.teara.govt.nz. New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  8. "Topic: Nelson cave spider | Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa". collections.tepapa.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
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