katipō the rare red-marked spider of coastal dune grass
- Size
- Length: 4–10 mm
- Lifespan
- 1–2 years
- Diet
- Predatory: feeds on small insects caught in tangled, irregular web. Web built among driftwood, dune grasses and coastal vegetation. Venom dangerous to humans but bites rare.
- Habitat
- Strictly coastal. Specialist residents of back-dune environment, living in drift logs, dried seaweed and base of native pīngao and spinifex grasses. Require hot, dry microclimates of sandy shore.
- Range
- Coastal areas of North Island, northern South Island and Chatham Islands. Most common in undisturbed sand dunes with native pīngao and spinifex grasses where driftwood provides nesting sites.
- Endemism
- Native
- Main Threats
- Habitat loss from coastal development and dune stabilisation. Competition from introduced false katipo spider. Predation by introduced predators including rats and hedgehogs.
- Population
- Squeezed by coastal development and habitat loss, also losing beachfront real estate war to invasive South African Steatoda spider. Survival depends on preservation of wild, undisturbed dune systems with native vegetation.
- Conservation Status
- Nationally Vulnerable
The black sheep of the New Zealand wilderness. A spider that demands respect.
The katipō is the only creature in the bush that demands that hands be watched where they are put. While the rest of the wildlife is famously harmless, the katipō is a legitimate member of the Latrodectus genus, the world-famous widow spiders. A spider with a reputation.
The female is the icon of the species: a pea-sized, glossy black sphere with a vibrant, neon-red stripe running down her back. She is a striking, gothic masterpiece of evolution, designed to blend into the shadows of a piece of driftwood while signalling a clear do-not-touch warning to anything that dares to disturb her silken retreat. A spider that is beautiful and dangerous.
Despite their fearsome reputation, katipō are pathologically shy. They do not hunt humans. They hunt the beetles and moths of the dunes. They build a messy, irregular web in the hollows of driftwood or at the base of beach grasses, waiting for a wandering insect to trip one of their high-tension tripwires.
When a prey item is snagged, the katipō emerges with surprising speed, swathing the victim in sticky silk before delivering a bite that liquefies the insect's internals. Their venom is a complex neurotoxin. While a bite to a human is rarely fatal in the modern era of antivenom, it is an experience characterised by intense pain, sweating and a profound sense of "I should have stayed on the boardwalk."
Finding a katipō today is a sign of a truly healthy, wild New Zealand coastline. The dune is wild. The katipō waits in her web, glossy black, red stripe glowing. She does not want to bite a human. She wants to bite a beetle. The boardwalk is safe. The dune is hers.
She has been here for millions of years. She will be here as long as the dunes remain.