tendance
Katipo
katipo as opposed to its neighboring country
Australia New Zealand is known for being mostly
free of dangerous predators and quite peaceful
as far as wildlife is concerned in fact it is one of
the largest islands where there is not even a single
snake that could be found in the wild, unfortunately,
one species of spider seeks to ruin new Zealand
reputation as it is regularly credited as being the only
venomous spider native to the country the spider is
known as the katipo which is the mayor word for
night sticker referencing the Maori belief that spiders
bite at night and perhaps this is true the katipo is
known for being extremely elusive it’s rarely ever
seen and its existence is in rapid decline so much
so that it’s strongly protected by the government
catching or killing a kittepo is actually against
the law in New Zealand fortunately for our sake
and theirs the katipo doesn’t usually dwell as a
house spider they are most often found living
outside by the sea in driftwood forests and leaves
or even in empty cans bottles and other types of
trash the katipo is mostly black with a large
globular abdomen females leg spans grow to over
an inch long they have an easily identifiable red
mark on their backs while bites from the katipos
don’t happen often the venom from one of these
spiders can cause something called latrodectism
an illness that causes intense pain muscle stiffness
and even vomiting
