Colaranea melanoviridis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Colaranea melanoviridis |
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The Colaranea melanoviridis is a special type of orb-weaver spider. This means it's a spider that builds round, wheel-shaped webs to catch its food. This spider is endemic to New Zealand, which means it's only found there and nowhere else in the world!
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About This Spider
What Does It Look Like?
The Colaranea melanoviridis is a small spider. It's mostly green, but it has a clear black stripe running down its back, on its abdomen. This stripe helps tell it apart from other similar spiders.
Female Colaranea melanoviridis spiders are a bit bigger than the males. A female is usually about 8.8 millimeters long, not counting her legs. The males are smaller, measuring around 6.1 millimeters long. That's less than a centimeter for both!
How Is It Different from Other Spiders?
This spider looks a lot like another spider called Colaranea viriditas. But there are a few ways to tell them apart. The most obvious difference is the black stripe on the Colaranea melanoviridis's abdomen. The Colaranea viriditas doesn't have this stripe.
Also, if you look very closely, female Colaranea melanoviridis spiders have more spines on the first two pairs of their legs. Male Colaranea melanoviridis spiders have fewer spines on a specific part of their front legs.
Who Discovered It?
Scientists David J. Court and Raymond Robert Forster officially described the Colaranea melanoviridis spider in 1988. This means they were the first to study it carefully and give it its scientific name.
Where Does It Live?
The Colaranea melanoviridis spider mostly lives in forests. It likes to hide among the trees and plants. These spiders are nocturnal, which means they are most active at night. They probably build their webs and hunt for insects when it's dark.
You can find this spider throughout the North Island of New Zealand. There have also been some sightings of it on the South Island, especially near Nelson.
