''Australomimetus mendicus'' is a species of

Mimetidae Pirate spiders, members of the family Mimetidae, are araneomorph spiders which typically feed on other spiders. The family Mimetidae contains roughly 200 species divided among 12 genera, of which ''Mimetus'' and '' Ero'' are the most common. Mi ...

that is

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 ...

Taxonomy

This species was described as ''Mimetus mendicus'' in 1880 by

Octavius Pickard-Cambridge Octavius Pickard-Cambridge FRS (3 November 1828 – 9 March 1917) was an English clergyman and zoologist. He was a keen arachnologist who described and named more than 900 species of spider from a large collection that he made with contrib ...

. It was most recently transferred to the ''

Australomimetus ''Australomimetus'' is a genus of spiders in the family Mimetidae. It was first described in 1986 by Heimer. , it contains 31 species. Species ''Australomimetus'' comprises the following species: *'' Australomimetus annulipes'' Heimer, 1986 *'' ...

'' in 2009.

Description

The cephalothorax is orange to yellow coloured with a black marking dorsally. Similarly, the legs are orange with black bands. The abdomen has a mottled black, red and white pattern.

Distribution

This species is known from both islands of New Zealand.

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

Spiders described in 1880 Mimetidae Endemic spiders of New Zealand {{Araneomorphae-stub