Katipo

The katipo (Latrodectus katipo) is an endangered species of spider native to New Zealand. It is a member of the genus Latrodectus, along with the Australian redback spider (L. hasseltii), and the North American black widow spiders. The species is venomous to humans, capable of delivering a comparatively dangerous spider bite. Katipo is a Māori name and means "night-stinger". It is a small to medium-sized spider with the female having a round black or brown pea-sized body. Red katipo females, found in the South Island and the lower half of the North Island, are always black, and have a distinctive red stripe bordered in white on their bodies. In black katipo females, found in the upper half of the North Island, this stripe is absent, pale, yellow, or replaced with cream-coloured blotches. The two forms were previously thought to be separate species, but 2008 research determined they were the same species with different colouration. The male is much smaller than the female and quite different in appearance, being white with black stripes and red diamond-shaped markings. Katipo have a narrow habitat, being only found living in sand dunes close to the seashore. They range throughout most of coastal New Zealand, but are not found at the southernmost regions. Spinning an irregular tangled web amongst dune plants or other debris, they feed mainly on ground dwelling insects.

Māori language

Maori or Māori (/ˈmaʊəri/; Māori pronunciation: [ˈmaː.ɔ.ɾi]) is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand. Since 1987, it has been one of New Zealand's official languages. It is closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and Tahitian.

According to a 2001 survey on the health of the Māori language, the number of very fluent adult speakers was about 9% of the Māori population, or 30,000 adults. A national census undertaken in 2006 says that about 4% of the New Zealand population, or 23.7% of the Maori population could hold a conversation in Maori about everyday things.

Name

The English word comes from the Maori language, where it is spelled "Māori". In New Zealand the Maori language is commonly referred to as Te Reo [tɛ ˈɾɛ.ɔ] "the language", short for te reo Māori.

The spelling "Maori" (without macron) is standard in English outside New Zealand in both general and linguistic usage. The Maori-language spelling "Māori" (with macron) has become common in New Zealand English in recent years, particularly in Maori-specific cultural contexts, although the traditional English spelling is still prevalent in general media and government use.