Spiders in New Zealand

What spiders live in New Zealand?

New Zealand's spider fauna is what you would expect from an old, isolated group of islands: around 1,100 described species, the large majority found nowhere else, plus a scattering of Australian and European arrivals that came in with cargo. There are no native tarantulas, no recluses and - despite the persistent myth - no Australian funnel-webs.

The everyday cast is easy to learn. Sheetweb spiders of the genus Cambridgea hang large horizontal sheets under bush canopy and across garages, and their long-legged males wander indoors at night. Black tunnelweb spiders, Porrhothele antipodiana, live in silk tubes under logs. Native jumping spiders of the genus Trite hunt inside rolled flax leaves, and nursery web spiders - the local Dolomedes minor - build the white silk tents you see over gorse in summer. Along sandy beaches, in dune grass and driftwood, lives the one native spider with a genuine medical reputation.

The katipo and the redback

The katipo, Latrodectus katipo, is New Zealand's only dangerous native spider and it is now a conservation case rather than a public health one. It is a small black cobweb spider, the northern form carrying a red or orange stripe down the back of the abdomen, living almost exclusively in the driftwood and spinifex of open sandy beaches. Coastal development, vehicles on dunes and invasive marram grass have shrunk its habitat so far that the species is legally protected under the Wildlife Act - it is illegal to kill or collect one - and confirmed bites are now extremely rare. When they happen the venom produces classic latrodectism: severe cramping pain spreading from the bite, sweating, nausea and agitation. Antivenom exists, and no confirmed spider-bite death has been recorded here for well over a century.

The redback, Latrodectus hasselti, is the introduced Australian relative and the one more likely to be met today, with established populations in Central Otago and around New Plymouth. The female is black with a bold red stripe on top of the abdomen and an hourglass beneath, and she builds a messy tangle web low down in sheltered, sun-warmed spots: under outdoor furniture, in pipe ends and in stacked timber. Her bite causes the same latrodectism and responds to the same antivenom.

White-tailed spiders do not cause flesh-eating wounds

The white-tailed spider, Lampona murina and Lampona cylindrata, is the most feared spider in New Zealand and the reputation is not supported by evidence. These are slim, dark grey Australian arrivals with a cream spot at the tip of the abdomen, members of the family Lamponidae, and they are specialist spider hunters that wander through houses at night after other spiders.

For decades they were blamed for necrotic ulcers, amputations and "flesh-eating" wounds. Prospective studies that followed people with definite, expert-identified white-tail bites found nothing of the kind: the typical result is burning local pain, a red mark and itching that fades within a day, with no ulceration in any case. The wounds that started the myth are now understood to be bacterial infections, along with conditions such as pyoderma gangrenosum and vascular ulcers. If a wound is spreading, hot and weeping, the answer is a doctor and probably antibiotics, not spider blame.

New Zealand has no funnel-web spiders

This is the single most common misunderstanding about New Zealand spiders, and it comes from a name. The country's black tunnelweb, Porrhothele antipodiana, and the banded tunnelweb, Hexathele hochstetteri, are burrowing mygalomorphs that build silk tubes under logs, banks and stones. They are stout, glossy mygalomorphs with visible fangs, and they are not related to the Australian funnel-web spiders of the family Atracidae, which include the Sydney funnel-web. Nothing in the Atracidae occurs in New Zealand.

A tunnelweb bite is a mechanical event more than a toxic one: the fangs are long, so it hurts and may bleed and swell, but there is no dangerous venom effect and no antivenom is needed. Note too that Hexathele hochstetteri is often written with "Ausserer" after it; that is the scientist who described the species, not part of the name. The Avondale spider, Delena cancerides, is another import that looks alarming and is not: a flat, socially living Australian huntsman established around the Auckland suburb it is named after, and famous for supplying the spiders used in the film Arachnophobia.

Where you meet them

In and around the house

Sheetweb males on the ceiling in late summer, cellar spiders in bathroom corners, the small grey house spider Badumna longinqua in lacy retreats around window frames, and white-tailed spiders inside curtains or clothing left on the floor. Our house spiders guide covers the same group.

Beaches and dunes

Katipo territory is driftwood, dune hollows and the base of spinifex and pingao on open sandy beaches. If you find one, leave it alone - it is protected by law.

Bush, caves and gardens

Tunnelwebs under logs and banks, Dolomedes minor nursery tents on gorse and manuka, and orb webs across bush tracks. The Nelson cave spider, Spelungula cavernicola, is the country's largest spider by leg span, lives in a few Kahurangi cave systems and is also protected.

Spider season in New Zealand

Spider activity peaks in late summer and early autumn, roughly February to April, when the season's young reach adult size and males start wandering to find mates. That is when sheetweb spiders appear on ceilings, when redback webs around Central Otago sheds are most obvious, and when nursery tents show up across scrubland.

Winter does not empty the country of spiders; it pushes them into sheltered retreats under bark, in wall cavities and under stones, where many overwinter as juveniles or egg sacs. Our guides to where spiders go in the winter and the spider life cycle explain the pattern.

Common Spiders in New Zealand

• Black-Headed Jumping Spider (Trite planiceps)
• Golden-Brown Jumping Spider (Trite auricoma)
• Black Tunnel Web Spiders (Porrhothele antipodiana)

Biggest Spiders in New Zealand

• Nelson Cave Spider (Spelungula cavernicola)
• Banded Tunnelweb Spider (Hexathele hochstetteri ausserer)
• Golden Orb Weaver Spider (Nephila edulis)
• Sheetweb Spider (Cambridgea foliata)
• Vagrant spider (Uliodon albopunctatus)

Most Venomous Spiders in New Zealand

Cobweb Spiders/Tangle Web Spiders (Theridiidae)

Cobweb SpidersRedback Spider (Latrodectus hasseltii)Identify the redback spider (Latrodectus hasseltii): the female's red stripe, the gum-footed web, where it lives, and how dangerous its bite

White-Tailed Spider (Lamponidae)

Cobweb SpidersRedback Spider (Latrodectus hasseltii)Identify the redback spider (Latrodectus hasseltii): the female's red stripe, the gum-footed web, where it lives, and how dangerous its biteLamponidae SpidersWhite-tailed (Lampona cylindrata & Lampona murina)Identify the white-tailed spider (Lampona cylindrata and L. murina), see where it lives, what it hunts, and why the flesh-eating bite claim

Less Venomous Spiders in New Zealand

Huntsman Spiders (Sparassidae Family)

Cobweb SpidersRedback Spider (Latrodectus hasseltii)Identify the redback spider (Latrodectus hasseltii): the female's red stripe, the gum-footed web, where it lives, and how dangerous its biteHuntsman SpidersAvondale (Delena cancerides)Identify the Avondale spider (Delena cancerides): its flat body, huge leg span, life in bark colonies, range in Australia and New Zealand, a

Living with spiders in New Zealand

With only two medically significant species in the country, and one of them protected and disappearing, the practical advice is short.

• Wear gloves when moving timber, bricks, pot plants and machinery outdoors, especially in Central Otago and around New Plymouth where redbacks are established.
• Shake out shoes, gloves and clothing left on the floor, and check bedding in baches shut up for a while.
• Leave katipo alone; killing or collecting one is an offence, so report sightings to the Department of Conservation instead.
• Vacuum webs and egg sacs indoors rather than spraying insecticide.
• Treat a spreading, hot, weeping wound as a bacterial infection needing a doctor, not as a spider bite.

For the spiders across the Tasman see our guides to Australia and Sydney, where the real funnel-webs live, and to Fiji. Only the widows put New Zealand anywhere near our most venomous spiders shortlist.