page_title: Katipō
section_title: Population decline
hierarchical_section_title: Katipō / Population decline
caption_attribution_description: English: Female False Katipo spider Steatoda capensis
context_page_description: The katipō is an endangered species of spider native to New Zealand. It is one of many species in the genus Latrodectus, such as the Australian redback, and the North American black widow. The species is venomous to humans, capable of delivering a potentially dangerous bite. It is a small to medium-sized spider, with the female having a round black or brown pea-sized body. Red katipō females, found in the South Island and the lower half of the North Island, are always black, and their abdomen has a distinctive red stripe bordered in white. In black katipō females, found in the upper half of the North Island, this stripe is absent, pale, yellow, or replaced with cream-coloured blotches. These two forms were previously thought to be separate species. The male is much smaller than the female and quite different in appearance: white with black stripes and red diamond-shaped markings. Katipō are mainly found living in sand dunes close to the seashore. They are found throughout most of coastal New Zealand except the far south and west. Katipō feed mainly on ground dwelling insects, caught in an irregular tangled web spun amongst dune plants or other debris,
context_section_description: The katipō is an endangered species and has recently become threatened with extinction. It is estimated that there are only a few thousand katipō left in about 50 areas in the North Island and eight areas in the South Island, making it rarer than some species of kiwi. A number of factors have contributed to its decline; the major ones appear to be loss of habitat and the declining quality of the remaining habitat. Human interference with their natural habitat has been occurring for over a century following European settlement. Coastal dune modification resulting from agriculture, forestry, or urban development, along with recreational activities like the use of beach buggies, off-road vehicles, beach horse riding and driftwood collection have destroyed or changed areas where katipō lives. The introduction of many invasive exotic plants has also contributed to the decline of suitable habitat.
  Foreign spiders have colonised areas where suitable habitat remains. The major coloniser is the South African spider Steatoda capensis. It was first reported in the 1990s and may have displaced the katipō along the west coast of the North Island from Wellington to Whanganui, although both the katipō and S. capensis have been found sharing the same dune systems or even co-existing under the same piece of driftwood, suggesting that the two species can co-exist in similar habitats. It is possible that the displacement of the katipō by S. capensis is due to its ability to recolonise areas from which the katipō had been displaced after storms or other dune modifications. Furthermore, S. capensis breeds year-round, produces more offspring and lives in a greater range of habitats which leads to greater pressure on the katipō. S. capensis also belongs to the family Theridiidae and shares many of the katipō's features. It is of similar size, shape, general coloration, but it lacks the red stripe on its back, and may have some red, orange or yellow on its abdomen. Due to these similarities it is commonly known in New Zealand as the "false katipō".
  In 2010 the katipō was one of a dozen species of previously-unprotected invertebrate given full protection under the 1953 Wildlife Act, noted as "iconic, vulnerable to harm, and in serious decline". Under the Act, killing an absolutely-protected species such as a katipō is punishable by a fine or even imprisonment.
caption: Steatoda capensis, the false katipō
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