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Dolomedes Dondalei
''Dolomedes dondalei'' is a species of large fishing spider endemic to the main islands of New Zealand. It is a nocturnal hunter, feeling the water surface for vibrations, and catches insects and even small fishes – the only New Zealand ''Dolomedes'' species able to do so. Taxonomy ''D. dondalei'' was known as ''Dolomedes'' III for some time before being named and described by Cor Vink, Cor J. Vink and Nadine Dupérré in 2010. The male Type (biology), type specimen of this species is held in the Lincoln University Entomology Research Collection and was collected by Vink on Banks Peninsula, near Barrys Bay, in 2003. The species was named in honour of spider Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist Dr Charles Dondale, to recognise the support he gave to both authors and his work on the taxonomy of the family Pisauridae. Description This species is one of four species of ''Dolomedes'' found in New Zealand, and grows up to 7 cm across, including legs. It has yellow stripes down its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest island. The world's 28th-most-populous island, Te Ika-a-Māui has a population of accounting for approximately % of the total residents of New Zealand. Twelve main urban areas (half of them officially cities) are in the North Island. From north to south, they are Whangārei, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Gisborne, New Plymouth, Napier, Hastings, Whanganui, Palmerston North, and New Zealand's capital city Wellington, which is located at the south-west tip of the island. Naming and usage Although the island has been known as the North Island for many years, in 2009 the New Zealand Geographic Board found that, along with the South Island, the North Island had no official name. After a public consultation, the board officially ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Fauna Of New Zealand
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiders Of New Zealand
New Zealand has 1157 described spider species, with an estimated total fauna of 2000 species. Over 97 per cent are endemic, and the rest have been introduced through human activities or were natural wind-borne introductions. The New Zealand spider with the largest leg span is the Nelson cave spider (''Spelungula cavernicola''), with a leg span of up to and a body length. The Australian white-tailed spider, first recorded in New Zealand in 1886, has been falsely attributed as the cause of many necrotising spider bites. The flat huntsman spider (''Delena cancerides''), also from Australia, and called the Avondale spider in New Zealand, was accidentally introduced in the early 1920s, possibly in shipments of hardwood logs used for railway sleepers.Rowell and Avilés (1995). "Sociality in a bark-dwelling huntsman spider from Australia, Delena cancerides Walckenaer (Araneae: Sparassidae)". ''Insectes Sociaux''. Volume 42(3): 287-302 The huntsman spiders, which are considered harmle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Critter Of The Week
''Critter of the Week'' is a weekly RNZ National programme about endangered and neglected native plants and animals of New Zealand. Beginning in 2015, ''Critter of the Week'' is an approximately 15-minute discussion between Nicola Toki of the Department of Conservation and host Jesse Mulligan on an "uncharismatic and lovable" New Zealand species. The topic of spotlighting uncharismatic species was raised in an interview by Mulligan in April 2015, and the programme originated in a discussion between Mulligan and Toki about threatened bird conservation, in which she lamented a lack of attention and corporate funding for species such as the '' Smeagol'' gravel maggot. The first episode, airing 2 October 2015, featured the New Zealand bat fly. Each week's broadcast is supported by improving the Wikipedia article for the species in question. The show currently airs on Friday afternoons. In 2018, artist Giselle Clarkson designed t-shirts featuring a selection of species that had a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio New Zealand
Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and current-affairs network, RNZ National, and a classical-music and jazz network, RNZ Concert, with full government funding from NZ on Air. Since 2014, the organisation's focus has been to transform RNZ from a radio broadcaster to a multimedia outlet, increasing its production of digital content in audio, video, and written forms. The organisation plays a central role in New Zealand public broadcasting. The New Zealand Parliament fully funds its AM network, used in part for the broadcast of parliamentary proceedings. RNZ has a statutory role under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 to act as a "lifeline utility" in emergency situations. It is also responsible for an international service (known as RNZ Pacific); this is broadcas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Fernbird
The New Zealand fernbird or simply fernbird (''Poodytes punctatus'') is an insectivorous bird endemic to New Zealand. In the Māori language, it is named or . Taxonomy The New Zealand fernbird was described by the French zoologists Jean Quoy and Joseph Gaimard in 1832 from a specimen collected in Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, South Island, New Zealand. They coined the binomial name, ''Synallaxis punctata''. In the past, this species had the binomial name ''Megalurus punctatus.'' There are five subspecies present on different islands. They differ in extent of reddish-brown and intensity of streaking, as well as size: * ''P. p. vealeae'' (Kemp, R, 1912) – North Island (New Zealand) * ''P. p. punctatus'' (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832) – South Island (New Zealand) * ''P. p. stewartianus'' ( Oliver, 1930) – Stewart Island (New Zealand) * ''P. p. wilsoni'' ( Stead, 1936) – Codfish Island (=Whenua Hou, west of Stewart Island, New Zealand) * ''P. p. caudatus'' ( Buller, 1894) – ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spider Wasp
Wasps in the family Pompilidae are commonly called spider wasps, spider-hunting wasps, or pompilid wasps. The family is cosmopolitan, with some 5,000 species in six subfamilies. Nearly all species are solitary (with the exception of some group-nesting Ageniellini), and most capture and paralyze prey, though members of the subfamily Ceropalinae are kleptoparasites of other pompilids, or ectoparasitoids of living spiders. In South America, species may be referred to colloquially as or , though these names can be generally applied to any very large stinging wasps. Furthermore, in some parts of Venezuela and Colombia, it is called , or "horse killers", while in Brazil some particular bigger and brighter species of the general kind might be called /, or "throat locker". Morphology Like other strong fliers, pompilids have a thorax modified for efficient flight. The metathorax is solidly fused to the pronotum and mesothorax; moreover, the prothorax is best developed in Pompilidae a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sphictostethus Nitidus
''Sphictostethus nitidus'', the golden hunter wasp or red spider wasp, is a species of pepsid spider wasp endemic to New Zealand. Description Females are reddish brown with yellow tints and with sooty spots; the males are also reddish brown with yellow-tinted wings, but these are never spotted. Females are 8.5-22.0 mm in length, and males 7.5-15.0 mm. They have a bold, jerky gait, and their vivid colour is aposematic to warn off visual predators such as birds and lizards. It is the only New Zealand ''Sphictostethus'' species that does not change from red to black when altitude or latitude increases. Its body stays red even at the most southern latitudes of its range. Biology ''S. nitidus'' hunts terrestrially in a variety of situations such as underneath and within logs, debris, and rotting wood, arboreally in shrubs and bushes, and on shingles and under boulders. The prey is usually detected by sight and pursued into the open. ''S. nitidus'' varies the attack depend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryptocheilus Australis
''Cryptocheilus australis'', the golden spider wasp, is an Australian pepsid spider wasp that was accidentally introduced to New Zealand around . Description The adults are a rich reddish yellow colour giving rise to the vernacular name golden spider wasp. Females are in length while males are . Biology Hunting females mainly use vision but antennal chemoreception plays some role. The prey in New Zealand is usually a spider from the family Pisauridae which the wasp pursues until it stops and cowers, when the wasp rushes at it, stinging it twice. When the spider collapses, it has its dorsum up and the wasp then slowly curves its abdomen beneath the spider's prosoma and carefully stabs the prosomal venter, examines the pedipalps, walks over the spider, then stings it a second time on the prosomal venter. After being stung so many times the paralysis is strong; stung spiders do not subsequently recover movement of their legs. The female wasp holds the prey spider by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chelicerae
The chelicerae () are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated fangs, or similarly to pincers. Some chelicerae, such as those found on nearly all spiders, are hollow and contain (or are connected to) venom glands, and are used to inject venom into prey or a perceived threat. In ''Pisaurina mira'', also known as the nursery web spider, the chelicerae are utilized to snatch the prey once it becomes within reach, facilitating the "sit-and-wait ambush predator" behavior. Both pseudoscorpions and harvestmen have structures on their chelicerae that are used for grooming (papillae in pseudoscorpions, cheliceral teeth in Opiliones). Types Chelicerae can be divided into three kinds: jackknife chelicerae, scissor chelicerae, and 3-segmented chelate chelicerae. Jackknife chelicerae The jackknife chelicera is subchelate (with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexual Cannibalism
Sexual cannibalism is when an animal, usually the female, cannibalizes its mate prior to, during, or after copulation.Polis, G.A. & Farley, R.D. Behavior and Ecology of Mating in the journal of Arachnology 33-46 (1979). It is a trait observed in many arachnid orders and several insect orders. Several hypotheses to explain this seemingly paradoxical behavior have been proposed. The adaptive foraging hypothesis,Blamires, S.J. Nutritional implications for sexual cannibalism in a sexually dimorphic orb web spider. Austral Ecology 36, 389-394 (2011). aggressive spillover hypothesisArnqvist, G. Courtship behaviour and sexual cannibalism in the semi-aquatic fishing spider, DOLOMEDES FIMBRIATUS (CLERCK) (ARANEAE: PISAURIDAE).pdf. The journal of Arachnology 20, 222-226 (1992). and mistaken identity hypothesisGould, S. Only his wings remained. Natural History 93, 10-18 (1984). are among the proposed hypotheses to explain how sexual cannibalism evolved. This behavior is believed to have evolve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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