''Colaranea melanoviridis'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

orb-weaver spider Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name ...

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 ...

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 ...

.Court, D. J. & Forster, R. R. (1988). The spiders of New Zealand: Part VI. Family Araneidae. ''Otago Museum Bulletin'' 6: 68-124.

Taxonomy

''Colaranea melanoviridis'' was described in 1988 by David J. Court and

Raymond Robert Forster Raymond Robert Forster (19 June 1922 – 1 July 2000) was a New Zealand arachnologist and museum director. He was a Fellow of the Entomological Society of New Zealand. Biography Forster was born in Hastings, New Zealand in 1922, and was educa ...

Description

''Colaranea melanoviridis'' is a small, green orb-weaver with a notable black stripe down its abdomen. Excluding the legs, the female measures about 8.8mm in length whereas the male measures 6.1mm in length. ''Colaranea melanoviridis'' most closely resembles ''

Colaranea viriditas ''Colaranea'' is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by D. J. Court & Raymond Robert Forster in 1988 that are endemic to New Zealand. Description ''Colaranea'' have variable colouration, but are typically brown, red, yellow and espe ...

'', but can be distinguished by the presence of the black band down its abdomen, more numerous leg spines in the first two pairs of legs of the female and by reduced number of spines on the prolateral surface of the first tibia in the male.

Habitat and distribution

''Colaranea melanoviridis'' appears to be restricted to forest habitats and are

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

. The species seems to be distributed throughout the

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 ...

, but there are also records of it occurring on the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

References

Araneidae Spiders of New Zealand Spiders described in 1988 Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic spiders of New Zealand {{Spider-stub