Arachnura feredayi

Arachnura feredayi, the tailed forest spider, is endemic to New Zealand. it is known for the distinctive tapering body shape in females which are also much larger than males, and for producing vertical columns of eggsacs in the 12 o'clock position in their webs.

Description
Arachnura feredayi females reach up to 18 mm in length, with about a third of that length consisting of a tail-like ending of the abdomen. Colouring is variable, with yellow or yellow-green variants common. Males are much smaller (about 2 mm long), lack the female's 'tail' and are coloured in shades of brown. This species is most similar to Arachnura higginsi from Australia, but the two species can be separated by structural differences in the male palp and female epigynum. Arachnura higginsi has also been reported as making aggregations of distinct but connected webs, but this has not been observed in A. feredayi.

Taxonomy
Arachnura feredeyi was originally described by L. Koch in 1872 under the genus Epeira. It is the sole member of the genus recorded from New Zealand and is an endemic species. Urquhart described several species of Arachnura but these were synonmised (see Synonyms) by Bryant in 1933. The Australian and New Zealand species of Arachnura were revised by Castanheira et al. in 2019.

Biology
Tailed forest spiders make an orb web, usually close to the ground. This web always has a V-shaped sector in the 12 o'clock position that is empty of spiral threads. This is where the female will deposit her eggsacs in a vertical column resembling a chain of sausage links. The newest eggsac is located nearest to the web's central hub and the female rebuilds her web every time she produces a new eggsac in order to maintain this positioning.

Distribution
These spiders are found in forests and gardens. They are only found in New Zealand and have been recorded from Manawatāwhi | Three Kings Islands, the North Island and the South Island.

Conservation Status
This species has been listed as Not Threatened under the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS).