30 



two words, kakati, to sting, and jjo, the night,) and although more strictly 

 ajiplicable to the venomous spider, is often used to denote a wasp or other 

 stinging insect. 



The exact range of this spider — interesting as being the only poisonous 

 vermin in New Zealand — cannot yet be accurately determined ; but it appears 

 to be rather local in its distribiition, while its habitat is strictly confined to the 

 sand-hills skirting the sea shore. Along the coast from Wainui to Waikanae 

 (on the north side of Cook's Strait), it is excessively abundant. From Wai- 

 kanae to Horowhenua it is comparatively scarce ; but at the latter place, and 

 for a few miles further north, it is said to be abvmdant. .At Manawatu, and 

 thence along the coast for twenty or thirty miles, it is very rare. At the 

 mouth of the Wanganui River, again, it is very abundant, and a story is still 

 current among the natives of the district about a fishing party, all of whom 

 were bitten by this dreaded spider, and, in two cases, with fatal results. I was 

 assured by Matene Te Whiwhi, of Otaki, that in former times a war party to 

 wdiich he belonged, on camping for the night near the mouth of the "Wanganui 

 River, had no less than ten men bitten before morning, some of whom sufiered 

 very severely. The Rev. Mr. Stannard informs me that lie found the Katipo 

 very plentiful, a few years ago, on the sea coast between Waitotara and Patea. 

 On some parts of the Taranaki coast it is known to be very abundant. It is 

 plentiful near the mouth of the Mokau River, but becomes scarcer as we go 

 further north. It occurs, more or less abundantly, on the shores of the Bay of 

 Plenty, but never beyond the littoral zone of sand dunes. It is also found, 

 but less numerously, on the east coast of the Wellington Province. Major 

 Heaphy obtained a specimen at Massacre Bay, near Nelson, in the South 

 Island. 



The notices of the Katipo which have hitherto been published contain 

 many inaccuracies of description. In a very interesting paper communicated 

 to the Auckland Institute, by Di'. Wright {Transactions, 1869, p. 81), the 

 sea-shore Katipo is described as having a " dark glossy body with a marked 

 red spot on the back." The Rev. R. Taylor, in his Leaf of the Natural History 

 of New Zealand, writes thus : — "The Katipo — venomous spider — one kindred, 

 and one black with a red spot upon its back." Major Heaphy expresses his 

 doubts as to the existence of a red Katipo, as described by Mr. Taylor. 

 {Transactions, 1869, p. 83.) Dr. Thompson, in his Story of New Zealand, 

 says that there are two poisonous spiders — " the one found in the diy sea sand, 

 having a bright red spot on its dark back, the other, found inland, being of a 

 yellow colour." (p. 30.) According to another account, the inland Katipo has 

 "a round black and shining body but without the spot." In his recent work, 

 New Zealand and its Inhabitants, Mr. Taylor describes the Katipo as "a black 

 spider very delicately formed, with a red cross on its back, surrounded with 

 white spots ; the female being entirely black." Dr. Hochstetter, who had 



