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Supunna picta
Also called a swift spider. A small (7-10mm) colourful ground spider. Very characteristic black and white species with striking bright orange fore legs. Its movement is also very characteristic as it moves in a short jerky and erratic fashion.
First recorded in NZ at Auckland in the 1940's has now spread throughout the two main islands. Found around houses and gardens and (as in this case) often seen on outside garden furniture.
This species hunts by running its prey down and doesn't build a web. Will often thieve from other spiders webs and attack the host spider as well - nice neighbor! Despite its bright colours, this spider is harmless to humans.
Spotted on Nov 5, 2010
Submitted on May 23, 2015
2 Comments
Hi Mark, thanks for the comment. I am pretty sure there are an estimated 2,000 species of spider in NZ. It is thought that over 90% are endemic. (About 700 still have to be named.) There are about 70 introduced species and a large number of those are Aussies or are native, shared with Oz. We dont have any snakes though, maybe they were confused :)
Nice shot. They almost never keep still long enough. So the Kiwis that told me there are no spiders in NZ were telling porkies as it seems many species have jumped the ditch now.