The katipo spider is on the verge of extinction in the Western Bay after a study concluded the outlook was grim for New Zealand's iconic spider species. The Department of Conservation (DoC) has conducted a six-week survey along the Western Bay shoreline to see how drastically the population of New Zealand'sonly native poisonous spider has declined. Tauranga ranger John Heaphy said the DoC survey team scoured coastal dunes from Waihi to Opotiki and preliminary results have revealed a poor outlook for the creepy-crawly. "Although we found them on Matakana Island at every survey site, we found none on the mainland," he said. "This is very concerning because they were historically common right around the Bay of Plenty coastline and we simply have not been able to find any except on Matakana." Mr Heaphy said the survey is the first comprehensive attempt to find out more about the distribution and conservation status of the spider in the Bay of Plenty and work will continue throughout the summer. Mr Heaphy said DoC would welcome any reports of sighting of the spider from members of the public but urged caution as the spider could give a nasty nip. Two species of katipo are native to New Zealand, the red katipo (Latrodectus katipo) and the black katipo (Latrodectus atritus). The black katipo is found only in the northern half of the North Island but has been found alongside the red katipo around the Bay of Plenty coastline. The spiders are coastal sand dune specialists and are therefore mostly found on the dunes of warm sandy beaches. They can be found at the base of dune grasses as well as under driftwood, corrugated iron or other beach debris. However, the shy creatures are on the decline in New Zealand due to the introduction of exotic plants as well as the reclamation of dunes which had changed the habitat. The katipo is related to the Australian redback spider and the American black widow spider. Only the adult female katipo can bite humans but, because the spider is non-aggressive in nature, bites are very uncommon. There are only two reported human fatalities as a consequence of bites from the katipo, and these occurred more than 100 years ago.
