Nicola Toki Doc's Threatened Species Ambassador is here to tell us about this week’s critter - the black tunnelweb spider which was Peter Jackson’s inspiration for Shelob the spider in Lord of the Rings!
While it looks terrifying in itself, one threat to this species is a spider-hunting wasp that paralyses the tunnelweb and drags it away to its lair, lays an egg on it which emerges and feeds on the paralysed but still alive spider.
And Nicola also announces our new range of Critter of the Week T-shirts, which you can order here.
Photo: Liminal/Giselle Clarkson/ RNZ/DOC
