''Anoteropsis cantuaria'' is a species of

wolf spider Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae (). They are robust and agile hunters with excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude, hunt alone, and do not spin webs. Some are opportunistic hunters, pouncing upon prey as they find it or ...

that is

endemic 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 elsew ...

to the

Canterbury Plains The Canterbury Plains () are an area in New Zealand centred in the Mid Canterbury, to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and in t ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Taxonomy

''Anoteropsis cantuaria'' was described by

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and harvestmen. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly, the study of sp ...

Cor Vink in 2002. He named the species ''cantuaria'' after the New Zealand province of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, the only place it occurs. The male and female holotype and allotype were collected by Vink in Prices Valley,

Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves. The South Island's largest cit ...

in 1994 and 1990 respectively, and in the

Lincoln University Entomology Research Collection The Lincoln University Entomology Research Collection is a collection of approximately 500,000 insect, spider, and other arthropod specimens housed in Lincoln University (New Zealand), Lincoln University, New Zealand. One of New Zealand's larges ...

(LUNZ). Other paratype specimens collected by Vink and

John Early John Early may refer to: *John Early (educator) (1814–1873), Irish-American Jesuit educator *John Early (politician) (1828–1877), Lieutenant Governor of Illinois *John Early (bishop) (1786–1873), American Methodist prelate *John Early (comedi ...

were lodged in LUNZ and the

New Zealand Arthropod Collection The New Zealand Arthropod Collection is a collection of terrestrial invertebrates held by Maanaki Whenua – Landcare Research in Auckland, New Zealand.http://biocol.org/institutional-collection/new-zealand-arthropod-collection It specialises i ...

Description

''A. cantuaria'' males have bodies 7–10 mm long, females 8–11.5. Their body is orange-brown, with a black brown abdomen bearing a faint stripe. Legs are yellow brown with faint rings. ''A. cantuaria'' is similar to '' A. lacustris'', but lighter in colour. Males can be distinguished from other New Zealand wolf spiders by the shape of the median apophysis on the palpal bulbs – the apophysis on the bulb of ''A. cantuaria'' has a slightly more rounded bend than ''A. lacustris''. Females can be distinguished by the shape of the

sclerites A sclerite (Greek , ', meaning "hard") is a hardened body part. In various branches of biology the term is applied to various structures, but not as a rule to vertebrate anatomical features such as bones and teeth. Instead it refers most commonly ...

of the

epigyne The epigyne or epigynum is the external genital structure of female spiders. As the epigyne varies greatly in form in different species, even in closely related ones, it often provides the most distinctive characteristic for recognizing species. ...

, which have backward-pointing hoods.

Habitat and distribution

''A. cantuaria'' is only found in

, New Zealand, and lives amongst the rocks and stones of riverbeds, especially the shallow

braided rivers A braided river, or braided channel, consists of a network of river channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called braid bars or, in English usage, ''aits'' or ''eyots''. Braided streams tend to occur in rivers with high sediment lo ...

that are characteristic of the

. Specimens have been collected from Waipara Gorge, Waihi Gorge, and the

Opihi River Opihi may refer to: * ''Cellana'', sea snails known as ''‘opihi'' in Hawaiian. * Opihi, New Zealand * Opihi River, Canterbury, New Zealand * Opihi Whanaungakore, a Māori burial ground near Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is the seat of the Bay ...

Life history

Anoteropsis cantuaria HT Habitus ventral 01

Adult spiders are found from spring to autumn (September to April). Eggs are laid in October, and a female carrying spiderlings in typical wolf spider fashion was found in mid-summer (January).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2185599 Lycosidae Spiders described in 2002 Endemic spiders of New Zealand