''Trite auricoma'', commonly known as the golden-brown jumping spider, is a species of

jumping spider Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family (biology), family Salticidae. , this family contained over 600 species description, described genus, genera and over 6,000 described species, making it the largest family of spide ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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Description

Adults are 8.4mm to 8.8mm in length. The

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

is coloured dark brown and is shaped rectangular and flattened. The abdomen tends to be patterned with grey-brown and orange colours. When fully mature, males have a yellow clypeal band that resembles a mustache. Females do not have this feature. Males also have a slimmer body and longer frontal legs. Male Trite auricoma

Taxonomy

''Trite auricoma'' was first described by Arthur T. Urquhart in 1886 as ''Attus auricomus'' (Urquhart, 1886). Urquhart proceeded to unknowingly describe ''T. auricoma''

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

several times as ''Plexippus capillatus'', ''Attus suffuscus'', ''Attus kirkii'' and ''Attus adustus'' in 1890 and 1893, respectively. Independently, in 1917,

Raymond Comte de Dalmas Raymond de Dalmas (5 February 1862 - 4 February 1930) was a French voyager, arachnologist, and ornithologist. Life He was raised in Croatia. During his youth he visited many parts of Europe, Algeria and Iceland. He was only 21 years old when in 1 ...

described another synonym, ''Trite vafra'', from samples he collected with

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist in history, ...

after visiting New Zealand from 1912 to 1913. In 1935, after examining type specimens from Canterbury Museum, Elizabeth Bangs Bryant placed ''A. auricomus'' in the Trite genus and renamed the species as ''T. auricoma''. Bryant also recognized ''P. capillatus'', ''A. suffuscus'', ''A. kirkii'', ''A. adustus'' and ''T. vafra'' as synonyms of ''T. auricoma''.

Etymology

In Latin, the species name "auricoma" translates to "gold hair" ("auri" translates to gold, "coma" translates to hair). This is likely a reference to the gold-brown colour of the spider.

Distribution and habitat

''Trite auricoma'' is widely distributed throughout New Zealand. ''T. auricoma'' can often be found in rolled up leaves of flax (''

Phormium ''Phormium'' is a genus of two plant species in the family Asphodelaceae. One species is endemic to New Zealand and the other is native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. The two species are widely known in New Zealand as flax or their Māori l ...

'') or underneath dropped cabbage tree (''

Cordyline ''Cordyline'' is a genus of about 24 species of woody monocotyledonous flowering plants in family (biology), family Asparagaceae, subfamily Lomandroideae. The subfamily has previously been treated as a separate family Laxmanniaceae, or Lomandrace ...

'') leaves. ''T. auricoma'' can also be found underneath stones, in vegetation and also on the ground.

Diet

Like all spiders, ''Trite auricoma'' is an

obligate carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mus ...

. In experimental conditions, juvenile ''T. auricoma'' has been observed feeding on aphids and small flies such as

Drosophila ''Drosophila'' (), from Ancient Greek δρόσος (''drósos''), meaning "dew", and φίλος (''phílos''), meaning "loving", is a genus of fly, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or p ...

. In experimental conditions, ''T. auricoma'' were more selective about prey choice, and fed on small flies and tachnids. ''T. auricoma'' also have to learn what is good to eat. It has been reported that juveniles will only eat slaters once, but then never again.

Behaviour

Hunting

Like most salticidae, ''Trite auricoma'' is a visual predator. If there is a fly within 15 cm of the front of the spider, the spider becomes alert. In the first stage, the legs and abdomen are shifted and straightened. The hind legs then become drawn in and the spider begins to slowly move towards the prey. Once the spider is 3–4 cm from its prey, it leaps and pierces the prey with its fangs. If a fly or other prey appears behind the spider, the spider will turn around and begin stalking. If the prey moves during stalking, the spider will turn its cephalothorax so that it is pointed at the prey. The abdomen will then also be moved into line with the cephalothorax and stalking will be resumed. If the prey begins to flee, then the spider will give chase and pounce. Hunger is thought to initiate hunting behaviour. Juvenile ''T. auricoma'' must learn to perfect the movements required in hunting. Juveniles usually miss their prey the first few times they hunt.

Interactions with conspecifics

The spiderlings of ''T. auricoma'' do not react to each other while they are in the egg sac. However, once they have emerged, confrontations between juveniles result in one or both spiders raising their front legs. At this point, both spiders back away.

Parasites

''Trite auricoma'' has been observed being parasitized by '' Priocnemis nitidiventris'', which paralyses the spider and feeds it to its young.

Conservation status

Under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had s ...

, this species is listed as "Not Threatened".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2251611 Salticidae Spiders described in 1886 Endemic spiders of New Zealand