''Colaranea'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of orb-weaver spiders first described by D. J. Court &

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 educ ...

in 1988 that are endemic to

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 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

Description

''Colaranea'' have variable colouration, but are typically brown, red, yellow and especially green.

Distribution

''Colaranea'' are widespread 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-larges ...

and

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 Tasma ...

of New Zealand.

Species

it contains four species, all found in New Zealand: *'' Colaranea brunnea'' Court & Forster, 1988 – New Zealand *'' Colaranea melanoviridis'' Court & Forster, 1988 – New Zealand *'' Colaranea verutum'' (Urquhart, 1887) – New Zealand *'' Colaranea viriditas'' (Urquhart, 1887) – New Zealand

References

Araneidae Araneomorphae genera Spiders of New Zealand Taxa named by Raymond Robert Forster {{Araneidae-stub