Austrarchaea raveni, Rix & Harvey, 2011

Rix, Michael G. & Harvey, Mark S., 2011, Australian Assassins, Part I: A review of the Assassin Spiders (Araneae, Archaeidae) of mid-eastern Australia, ZooKeys 123, pp. 1-100 : 19-20

Austrarchaea raveni D’Aguilar Range Assassin Spider Rix & Harvey sp. n. Figs 1E-F7D8D1432

Type material.

Holotype male: Mount Nebo, D'Aguilar Range, Queensland, Australia, 15.VIII.1990, [inside hollow log], M. Harvey, T. Churchill (QMB S90193).

Paratype: Allotype female, D'Aguilar National Park, Mount Glorious, Maiala section, track to Greene's Falls, Queensland, Australia, 27°19'57"S, 152°45'47"E, sifting elevated leaf litter, subtropical rainforest, 633 m, 4.V.2010, M. Rix, D. Harms (QMB S90192DNA: Ar73-83-F).

Other material examined.

AUSTRALIA: Queensland: D'Aguilar National Park: Mount Glorious, Maiala section, track to Greene's Falls, 27°19'30"S, 152°45'45"E, hand collected at night from maternal web at base of fallen log, 3.III.2001, M. & A. Rix, 1♀, 1 juvenile (WAM T94092); Mount Glorious, Maiala section, track to Greene's Falls, 27°19'57"S, 152°45'47"E, sifting elevated leaf litter, subtropical rainforest, 633 m, 4.V.2010, M. Rix, D. Harms, 6 juveniles (WAM T112574DNA: Ar73-84-J/Ar73-85-J); Mount Glorious, Maiala section, ANIC Berlesate, ~635 m, 13.III.1973, R. Taylor, 1 juvenile (ANIC). Mount Glorious: "Mount Glorious", spraying logs with Mortein, 26.IV.1988, P. Blus, V. Davies, 1 juvenile (QMB S30810); Hiller Family's Property, 20.I.- 26.VI.1978, G. Monteith, 1 juvenile (QMB S30807). Mount Mee Forest Reserve: The Mill Rainforest Walk, 27°04'57"S, 152°42'39"E, sifting elevated leaf litter, subtropical rainforest, 271 m, 1.V.2010, M. Rix, D. Harms, 1♂, 3 juveniles (WAM T112575DNA: Ar69-86-M/Ar69-87-J/Ar69-88-J).

Additional material (not examined).

AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Brisbane Forest Park: Mount Glorious, Lawton Road section of Westside Track, NW. of Maiala, 27°19'07"S, 152°44'50"E, beating ferns ~20 cm from ground, rainforest, 1.I.2010, G. Anderson, 1 juvenile (QMB).

Etymology.

The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of Dr Robert Raven, for his extraordinary contributions to arachnology, and for his ongoing efforts documenting the diverse spider fauna of south-eastern Queensland.

Diagnosis.

Austrarchaea raveni can be distinguished from all other Archaeidae from mid-eastern Australia by the very short, barely differentiated comb of accessory setae on the male chelicerae (Fig. 14C) combined with the unique shape of the conductor (Figs 14D-E), which is ‘ear-shaped’ with a large proximal lobe.

This species can also be distinguished from other genotyped taxa from mid-eastern Australia (see Fig. 3B) by the following three unique nucleotide substitutions for COI and COII (n = 6): G(9), G(843), T(1408).

Description.

Holotype male: Total length 2.90; leg I femur 3.10; F1/CL ratio 2.88. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige, with darker reddish-brown dorsal scute and sclerites (Fig. 14B). Carapace very tall (CH/CL ratio 2.41); 1.08 long, 2.59 high, 0.98 wide; ‘neck’ 0.51 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near posterior margin of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.90), carapace slightly concave anterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated postero-dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.35) (Fig. 8D). Chelicerae with short, barely differentiated comb of accessory setae on anterior face of paturon (Fig. 14C). Abdomen 1.59 long, 1.18 wide; with three pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1-6); dorsal scute fused anteriorly to epigastric sclerites, extending posteriorly to first pair of hump-like tubercles; HT 3-6 each covered by separate dorsal sclerites. Partially expanded pedipalp (Figs 14D-F) with lobed, ‘ear-shaped’ conductor; tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1) spiniform, obscured by conductor in retrolateral view; TS 2 spiniform, longer than TS 1, directed across proximal lobe of conductor; TS 2a sinuous, largely obscured by TS 2; TS 3 embedded proximally within distal haematodocha, with sharply-pointed, broadly triangular apex directed retro-ventrally across conductor.

Allotype female: Total length 3.05; leg I femur 3.14; F1/CL ratio 2.58. Cephalothorax brown; legs pale tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige, palest posteriorly (Fig. 14A). Carapace very tall (CH/CL ratio 2.34); 1.22 long, 2.85 high, 1.10 wide; ‘neck’ 0.60 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near posterior margin of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.83), carapace gently sloping anterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated postero-dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.33) (Fig. 7D). Chelicerae without accessory setae on anterior face of paturon. Abdomen 1.59 long, 1.03 wide; with three pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1-6). Internal genitalia with dense cluster of ≤ 15 variably shaped spermathecae on either side of gonopore, clusters meeting near midline of genital plate (Fig. 14G); innermost (anterior) spermathecae sausage-shaped, curved antero-laterally; other spermathecae variably aciniform, straight, directed antero-laterally.

Variation: Males (n=2): total length 2.64-2.90; carapace length 1.06-1.08; carapace height 2.46-2.59; CH/CL ratio 2.31-2.41. Females (n=2): total length 3.05-3.46; carapace length 1.22-1.30; carapace height 2.85-3.10; CH/CL ratio 2.34-2.38.

Distribution and habitat.

Austrarchaea raveni is known only from rainforest habitats at Mount Glorious, Mount Nebo and Mount Mee, on the D’Aguilar Range north-west of Brisbane, south-eastern Queensland (Fig. 32).

Conservation status.

This species is a short-range endemic taxon ( Harvey 2002b), which although restricted in distribution, is relatively abundant within several National Parks and Forest Reserves (M. Rix, pers. obs.). It is not considered to be of conservation concern.