Cambridgea Turbotti

''Cambridgea'' (common name New Zealand sheetweb spider, bush spider) is a spider genus in the family Desidae and some of the first endemic spiders described from New Zealand. They are known for constructing large horizontal sheet webs measuring up to a square metre in larger species. ''Cambridgea'' were originally assigned to the Agelenidae by Dalmas in 1917 but were reassigned to the Stiphidiidae in 1973. Most recently, both ''Cambridgea'' and sister genus ''Nanocambridgea'' were reassigned to the Desidae, subfamily Porteriinae on the basis of molecular evidence.

Description

''Cambridgea'' are medium to large arboreal spiders, with body lengths ranging from approximately 6-10mm in the case of ''Cambridgea reinga'' to about 20mm in the case of ''Cambridgea foliata''. They have long legs and porrect chelicerae which are significantly longer in adult males compared to adult females. Male pedipalps are characterised by a cymbium that extends well beyond the bulb and species can be differentiated by the morphology of the male tibial apophyses and female epigyne.Blest, A.D.; Vink, C.J. 2000: New Zealand spiders: Stiphidiidae. ''Records of the Canterbury Museum'', 13(supplement)

Behaviour

Male-male competition

In the summer, following maturation, adult males depart their natal webs at night and wander in search of receptive females. During this time males will frequently wander into homes, sometimes getting stuck in bathtubs. Having found a female's web, males will defend the web and fight any rival males that subsequently arrive in her web. Fights proceed through clear stages of escalation. In some species males will first signal to each other by creating distortions in the mainsheet by shaking their bodies or by drumming their first pairs of legs and pedipalps on the web. Unless one male withdraws from the web, these contests will escalate to sparring, in which males push at each other with their first two pairs of legs. Some fights will escalate further into grappling in which males lock their chelicerae together and push against one another. Fights rarely result in injury.

Web building

''Cambridgea'' are known for building characteristic, three-dimensional sheet webs consisting of a thick, horizontal mainsheet guyed from below with anchoring threads and with a large number of knock-down threads above the mainsheet to intercept flying insects. The "rear" of the web attaches to a silken retreat which extends a short distance into crevices. The size of webs can vary significantly. Some species build sheet webs with mainsheets of up to one square metre, while some species (e.g. ''Cambridgea quadromaculata'') do not build webs at all. Those ''Cambridgea'' that do build webs run along the underside of the mainsheet rather than along the top as some sheet-web spiders do (e.g. '' Corasoides'').

Species

, the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species.
* '' Cambridgea agrestis'' Forster & Wilton, 1973 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea ambigua'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* ''Cambridgea annulata'' Dalmas, 1917 — Chatham Islands
* ''Cambridgea antipodiana'' (White, 1849) — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea arboricola'' (Urquhart, 1891) — New Zealand
* ''Cambridgea australis'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* ''Cambridgea decorata'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* ''Cambridgea elegans'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* ''Cambridgea elongata'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea fasciata'' L. Koch, 1872 — New Zealand
* ''Cambridgea foliata'' (L. Koch, 1872) — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea inaequalis'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* ''Cambridgea insulana'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea longipes'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea mercurialis'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* ''Cambridgea obscura'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea occidentalis'' Forster & Wilton, 1973 — New Zealand
* ''Cambridgea ordishi'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* ''Cambridgea pallidula'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea peculiaris'' Forster & Wilton, 1973 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea peelensis'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea plagiata'' Forster & Wilton, 1973 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea quadromaculata'' Blest & Taylor, 1995 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea ramsayi'' Forster & Wilton, 1973 — New Zealand
* ''Cambridgea reinga'' Forster & Wilton, 1973 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea secunda'' Forster & Wilton, 1973 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea simoni'' Berland, 1924 — New Caledonia
* '' Cambridgea solanderensis'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* ''Cambridgea sylvatica'' Forster & Wilton, 1973 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea tuiae'' Blest & Vink, 2000 — New Zealand
* '' Cambridgea turbotti'' Forster & Wilton, 1973 — New Zealand

See also

* List of Desidae species

References

{{Authority control

Desidae genera
Spiders of New Zealand