''Cambridgea foliata'', commonly known as New Zealand sheet-web spider, is a species of spider in the family

Desidae Desidae is a family of spiders, some of which are known as intertidal spiders. The family is named for the genus '' Desis'', members of which inhabit the intertidal zone. The family has been reevaluated in recent years and now includes inland gen ...

.Forster, R.R.; Wilton, C.L. (1973)
The spiders of New Zealand. Part 4, Agelenidae, Stiphidiidae, Amphinectidae, Amaurobiidae, Neolanidae, Ctenidae, Psechridae
''Otago Museum Bulletin'', ''4.'' These nocturnal, arboreal spiders are endemic to the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

of New Zealand and build large horizontal sheet-webs with a large number of knock-down threads.

Taxonomy

This species was described as ''Tengeria foliata'' by

Ludwig Carl Christian Koch Ludwig Carl Christian Koch (8 November 1825 – 1 November 1908) was a German entomologist and arachnologist. He was born in Regensburg, Germany, and died in Nuremberg, Germany. He studied in Nuremberg, initially law, but then turned to medicin ...

. It was moved to the ''

Cambridgea ''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 ...

'' genus in 1898. It was most recently revised in 1973. The holotype location is considered unknown.

Description

''C. foliata'' have a reddish-brown cephalothorax and greyish yellow abdomen. While males and females of this species are of a similar size with a cephalothorax width of approximately 5.8mm, males have significantly longer

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated ...

compared to females. While males of other ''Cambridgea species'' possess a stridulatory organ on the dorsal surface of the pedicel and abdomen, it is absent in male ''C. foliata.'' Cambridgea foliata 1924861

Distribution

This species is only known from the

and the north end of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand.

Contest behaviour

In the summer season, mature males depart their natal webs in search of females, sometimes wandering into people's houses'. When they find a female's web, they will use their first pair of legs and chelicerae to defend the web and female from any other males which may intrude, with the largest males tending to be most successful at defending webs.

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=Q2328350 Desidae Endemic spiders of New Zealand Spiders described in 1872