Difference between revisions of "Austrarchaea aleenae"

Latest revision as of 15:59, 15 August 2011

Taxonavigation

Ordo: Araneae
Familia: Archaeidae
Genus: Austrarchaea

Name

Austrarchaea aleenae Rix & Harvey sp. n. – Wikispecies link – ZooBank link – Pensoft Profile

Type material

Holotype male: Bulburin National Park, via Builyan, off Bulburin Forest Road, Queensland, Australia, 24°31'17"S, 151°28'02"E, sifting elevated leaf litter, subtropical vine rainforest, 618 m, 25.X.2010, M. & A. Rix (QMB S90182).
Paratypes: Allotype female, Bulburin National Park (written “Bulburin State Forest"), Queensland, Australia, 25.II.–8.III.1977, R. Raven, V. Davies (QMB S1094); 1 male and 4 juveniles, same data as holotype (WAM T112552DNA: BUL-68-M/BUL-69-J/BUL-70-J).

Other material examined

AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Bulburin National Park: “Bulburin State Forest", 19.III.1975, 1♂, 2 juveniles (QMB S1099); “Bulburin Forestry Nursery", NW. of Bundaberg, under rock in log, rainforest, 580 m, III.1975, M. Gray, C. Horseman, 2♀, 4 juveniles (AMS KS6776); same data, 2 juveniles (AMS KS87). Kalpowar State Forest: Mount Fort William, via Kalpowar, pyrethrum, logs, 18.I.1990, G. Monteith, 1♀, 2 juveniles (QMB S25803); Mount Fort William, 6 km NE. of Kalpowar, pyrethrum in rainforest, 700 m, 18.IX.1989, G. Monteith, 1 juvenile (QMB S31311).

Etymology

The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of Aleena Wojcieszek, for her love of assassin spiders, and for her support of the senior author over many years.

Diagnosis

Austrarchaea aleenae can be distinguished from all other Archaeidae from mid-eastern Australia except Austrarchaea alani sp. n. by the very large, porrect tegular sclerite 3 (TS 3) (Figs 17D-F); and from Austrarchaea alani sp. n. by the dense tuft of accessory setae on the male chelicerae (Fig. 17C).
This species can also be distinguished from other genotyped taxa from mid-eastern Australia (see Fig. 3B) by the following unique nucleotide substitution for COI (n = 3): A(429). The COI and COII substitutions G(363), A(552), G(627), T(897), G(1020), G(1029), G(1317) and T(1422) further distinguish this species from all other south-eastern Queensland species.

Description

Holotype male: Total length 3.10; leg I femur 3.05; F1/CL ratio 2.77. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige, palest behind hump-like tubercles, with darker reddish-brown dorsal scute and sclerites (Fig. 17B). Carapace very tall (CH/CL ratio 2.38); 1.10 long, 2.63 high, 1.03 wide; ‘neck’ 0.56 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near posterior third of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.68), carapace gently sloping and almost horizontal anterior and posterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated postero-dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.34) (Fig. 8B). Chelicerae with dense tuft of accessory setae on anterior face of paturon (Fig. 17C). Abdomen 1.67 long, 1.23 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. Unexpanded pedipalp (Figs 17D-F) with broad, distally-directed foliate conductor; tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1) spiniform, widest across middle, obscured by conductor in retrolateral view; TS 2 thin, spiniform, longer than TS 1; TS 2a sinuous, largely obscured by TS 2; TS 3 very large, porrect, with broadly-pointed rectangular apex projecting well beyond retro-distal rim of tegulum.
Allotype female: Total length 3.62; leg I femur 3.17; F1/CL ratio 2.40. Cephalothorax tan-brown; legs pale tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige (Figs 5G, 17A). Carapace very tall (CH/CL ratio 2.25); 1.32 long, 2.97 high, 1.18 wide; ‘neck’ 0.62 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near posterior third of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.64), carapace gently sloping posterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated postero-dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.33) (Fig. 7B). Chelicerae without accessory setae on anterior face of paturon. Abdomen 1.85 long, 1.28 wide; with three pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1–6) (Fig. 5G). Internal genitalia with dense cluster of ≤ 15 variably shaped spermathecae on either side of gonopore, clusters meeting near midline of genital plate (Fig. 17G); innermost (anterior) spermathecae longest, sausage-shaped, curved antero-laterally; outermost (posterior) spermathecae bulbous; other spermathecae variably pyriform, straight, directed antero-laterally.
Variation: Males (n=3): total length 2.82–3.10; carapace length 1.03–1.10; carapace height 2.35–2.63; CH/CL ratio 2.27–2.44. Females (n=4): total length 3.13–3.62; carapace length 1.26–1.32; carapace height 2.82–2.97; CH/CL ratio 2.25–2.26.

Distribution and habitat

Austrarchaea aleenae is known only from rainforest habitats in the Kalpowar-Builyan region of south-eastern Queensland, in the Bulburin National Park and nearby Kalpowar State Forest (Fig. 35).

Conservation status

This species appears to be a short-range endemic taxon (Harvey 2002b^[1]), which although potentially restricted in distribution, is abundant within the Bulburin National Park (M. Rix, pers. obs.). It is not considered to be of conservation concern.

Original Description

• Rix, M; Harvey, M; 2011: Australian Assassins, Part I: A review of the Assassin Spiders (Araneae, Archaeidae) of mid-eastern Australia ZooKeys, 123: 1-100. doi

Other References

1. ↑ Harvey M (2002b) Short-range endemism among the Australian fauna: some examples from non-marine environments. Invertebrate Systematics 16: 555-570. doi:10.1071/IS02009

Images

Figure 3. Molecular phylogenetic data analysed as part of this study. A, Schematic map of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I–II (COI–COII) gene complex in Archaeidae and other basal Araneomorphae, showing (i) the position of primers used to amplify and sequence 1.6 kilobases of mtDNA, and (ii) the inferred stop and initiation codons for COI and COII, respectively. Note the centralised, overlapping position of the two internal sequencing primer sites (SeqF2a/SeqR1), and the TTG initiation codon for COII, present in all but one of the spider species sequenced for this study. B, Majority-rule consensus tree with re-estimated branch lengths, resulting from a combined, gene-partitioned Bayesian analysis of the COI–COII mtDNA data. Thickened branches represent clades with >95% posterior probability support, and individual support values are shown above other nodes.  Figure 5. Abdominal morphology of Austrarchaea species. A–C, A. judyae sp. n.: A, male abdomen, antero-lateral view, showing dorsal scute (S) and additional dorsal sclerites (ds); B, detail of female abdomen, lateral view, showing subcuticular guanine crystals (GC) and concentric arrangements of setae around sclerotic spots (ss); C, female epigastric region, ventral view, showing setose book lung covers (BL) and genital plate (GP). D, Cleared epigastric region of female A. nodosa (Forster), postero-ventral view, showing position of clustered spermathecae under posterior rim of genital plate. E–G, Female abdomens, postero-lateral view, showing arrangement of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT) in different taxa: E, A. sp. nr. daviesae (QMB S72989, from Mount Bartle Frere, NE. Queensland); F, A. monteithi sp. n.; G, A. aleenae sp. n. Note the presence of only a single posterior hump-like tubercle (HT 5) in A. monteithi.  Figure 7. Lateral ‘head’ profiles of females of species of Austrarchaea from mid-eastern Australia, showing variation in carapace shape as quantified by the post-ocular ratio (P.O. Ratio) and ratio of highest point of carapace relative to post-ocular length (HPC Ratio): A, allotype A. alani sp. n.; B, allotype A. aleenae sp. n.; C, allotype A. judyae sp. n.; D, allotype A. raveni sp. n.; E, allotype A. harmsi sp. n.; F, allotype A. monteithi sp. n.; G, allotype A. cunninghami sp. n.; H, allotype A. dianneae sp. n.; I, A. nodosa (Forster, 1956); J, allotype A. platnickorum sp. n.; K, allotype A. binfordae sp. n.; L, A. milledgei sp. n. (WAM T112568); M, allotype A. mascordi sp. n.; N, allotype A. smithae sp. n.; O, allotype A. mcguiganae sp. n. Asterisks (*) denote concave depressions.  Figure 8. Lateral ‘head’ profiles of males of species of Austrarchaea from south-eastern Queensland and extreme north-eastern New South Wales (including the Border Ranges), showing variation in carapace shape as quantified by the post-ocular ratio (P.O. Ratio) and ratio of highest point of carapace relative to post-ocular length (HPC Ratio): A, holotype A. alani sp. n.; B, holotype A. aleenae sp. n.; C, holotype A. judyae sp. n.; D, holotype A. raveni sp. n.; E, holotype A. harmsi sp. n.; F, holotype A. clyneae sp. n.; G, holotype A. cunninghami sp. n.; H, holotype A. dianneae sp. n.; I, A. nodosa (Forster, 1956) (QMB S75416). Asterisks (*) denote concave depressions.  Figure 17. Austrarchaea aleenae sp. n. A–B, Cephalothorax and abdomen, lateral view: A, allotype female (QMB S1094) from Bulburin National Park, Queensland; B, holotype male (QMB S90182) from Bulburin National Park, Queensland. C, Holotype male chelicerae, lateral view, showing accessory setae. D–F, Holotype male pedipalp: D–E, bulb, retrolateral view; F, detail of distal tegular sclerites, prodistal view. G, Allotype female internal genitalia, dorsal view, showing membranous bursa overlying clustered spermathecae. B = bursa; C = conductor; E = embolus; Es = embolic sclerite; T = tegulum; (TS)1–3 = tegular sclerites 1–3. Scale bars: A–B = 1.0 mm; E = 0.2 mm.  Figure 35. Austrarchaea aleenae sp. n., distribution and habitat: A, topographic map showing the known distribution of Archaeidae in south-eastern Queensland and eastern New South Wales, with collection localities for A. aleenae highlighted in yellow; B, satellite image showing detail of inset (A); C, subtropical vine rainforest at the type locality – Bulburin Forest Road, Bulburin National Park, Queensland (October 2010). Image (C) by A. Rix, used with permission.