Difference between revisions of "Zephyrarchaea janineae"

Latest revision as of 16:04, 7 May 2012

Taxonavigation

Ordo: Araneae
Familia: Archaeidae
Genus: Zephyrarchaea

Name

Zephyrarchaea janineae Rix & Harvey sp. n. – Wikispecies link – ZooBank link – Pensoft Profile

• Austrarchaea sp. Main, 1995: 153.

Vernacular name

Karri Forest Assassin Spider

Type material

Holotype male: Karri Valley, ‘Karri Valley Hideaway Cottages’, off Hopgarden Road, west of Pemberton, Western Australia, Australia, 34°24'59"S, 115°50'52"E, sifting elevated leaf litter in wet Marri and Agonis forest, 26–28.VIII.2006, M. Rix, J. Wojcieszek (WAM T89559).
Paratypes: Allotype female, same data as holotype (WAM T118981).

Other material examined

AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: Karri Valley: ‘Karri Valley Hideaway Cottages’, off Hopgarden Road, west of Pemberton, 34°24'57"S, 115°50'50"E, sifting elevated leaf litter in wet Marri and Agonis forest, 3.V.2008, M. Rix, M. Harvey, 2 juveniles (WAM T89565DNA: KV-38-J/KV-39-J). Greater Hawke National Park: Gloucester Road, ~360 m off Pemberton-Northcliffe Road, 34°21'01"S, 116°01'14"E, sifting leaf litter and beating grass-trees in very wet area, 16.X.2009, D. & S. Harms, 1 juvenile (WAM T114035DNA: GL-160-J). Dombakup State Forest: Marri Road, 15.I.1979, M. Gray, 4 juveniles (AMS KS15242). Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park: near Cape Leeuwin, 34°22'00"S, 115°09'16"E, sifting elevated leaf litter in coastal Agonis forest, 15.VII.2009, M. Rix, 2♂ (WAM T94476); same data except 16.IV.2009, 1♀, 5 juveniles (WAM T97464DNA: CL-163-J/CL-164-J/CL-165-J); Sugarloaf Road, near Cape Naturaliste, 33°33'31"S, 115°01'18"E, sifting elevated leaf litter under Agonis, 30.III.2008, M. Rix, 1 juvenile (WAM T89561DNA: CN-32-J); Sugarloaf Road, near Cape Naturaliste, 33°33'29"S, 115°01'25"E, sifting elevated leaf litter under Agonis, 25.IV.2008, M. Rix, 2 juveniles (WAM T89562DNA: CN-33-J). Treen Brook State Forest: side road fire track off Vasse Highway, 34°26'45"S, 115°59'00"E, sifting leaf litter and teasing low shrubs, 14.X.2009, D. & S. Harms, 1 juvenile (WAM T114036DNA: TB-161-J); 8 km W. of Pemberton, 13.II.1979, M. Gray, 2 juveniles (AMS KS15341). Wellington National Park: Lennard Drive, near turnoff to Rapids Picnic Ground, 33°23’59”S, 115°57’52”E, sifting elevated leaf litter, dense Jarrah forest with Agonis on slope leading to Collie River, 141 m, 18.IX.2010, S. & D. Harms, 1♀ (WAM T112584DNA: CO-158-F); same data except 25.IX.2010, M. Rix, J. Wojcieszek, 1 juvenile (WAM T114034DNA: CO-159-J).

Etymology

The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of Dr Janine Wojcieszek, for helping to discover the first live specimens of this species in 2006, and therefore catalysing the Western Australian Museum’s ‘archaeid project’ in the half decade since 2007.

Diagnosis

Zephyrarchaea janineae can be distinguished from other known congeners except Zephyrarchaea mainae by the presence of six dorsal, hump-like tubercles on the abdomen (Figs 1C, 11A–B); and from Zephyrarchaea mainae by the more tapered, spiniform apex of tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1) (Figs 11D–F).
This species can also be distinguished from other genotyped taxa (see Fig. 3) by the following three unique nucleotide substitutions for COI (n = 11): G(87), G(132), T(609).

Description

Holotype male: Total length 2.92; leg I femur 1.87; F1/CL ratio 1.76. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige, with reddish-brown dorsal scute and sclerites (Fig. 11B). Carapace short (CH/CL ratio 1.60); 1.06 long, 1.71 high, 1.01 wide; ‘neck’ 0.59 wide; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near posterior third of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.65), carapace with pronounced concave depression anterior to HPC; ‘head’ not strongly elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.22) (Fig. 8I). Chelicerae with proximal tuft and additional comb of accessory setae on anterior face of paturon (Fig. 11C). Abdomen 1.54 long, 1.08 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 11D–F) pyriform, with broad, distally curved embolus supported by conductor sclerites 1–2; tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1) porrect, slightly curved in prolateral view, with tapered, spiniform apex; TS 2–3 projecting beyond retro-distal rim of tegulum.
Allotype female: Total length 4.10; leg I femur 1.97; F1/CL ratio 1.66. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige (Fig. 11A). Carapace short (CH/CL ratio 1.70); 1.19 long, 2.03 high, 1.15 wide; ‘neck’ 0.69 wide; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) approaching posterior quarter of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.70), carapace with pronounced concave depression anterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.26) (Fig. 9F). Chelicerae without accessory setae on anterior face of paturon. Abdomen 2.62 long, 2.15 wide; with three pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1–6). Internal genitalia (Fig. 11G) with cluster of ≤ 15 sausage-shaped spermathecae either side of gonopore, clusters widely separated along midline of genital plate.
Variation: Males (n = 3): total length 2.92–3.15; carapace length 1.03–1.10; carapace height 1.67–1.82; CH/CL ratio 1.60–1.66. Females (n = 3): total length 3.03–4.10; carapace length 1.14–1.19; carapace height 1.92–2.03; CH/CL ratio 1.69–1.70.

Distribution and habitat

Zephyrarchaea janineae is known from the high rainfall province (see Hopper and Gioia 2004^[1]) of southern Western Australia, from the Leeuwin-Naturaliste and Wellington National Parks (near Bunbury) east to Pemberton (Fig. 21). It is the dominant assassin spider of the south-western Karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor) forest and surrounding areas, and has been collected by beating and sifting elevated leaf litter in wet forested habitats and in coastal groves of Peppermint (Agonis sp.). Six juvenile specimens first collected by M. Gray in 1979 in the Treen Brook and Dombakup State Forests near Pemberton (see Main 1995^[2]) almost certainly belong to this species.

Conservation status

This specieshas a relatively widespread distribution in several National Parks and State Forests, and is not considered to be of conservation concern.

Original Description

• Rix, M; Harvey, M; 2012: Australian Assassins, Part II: A review of the new assassin spider genus Zephyrarchaea (Araneae, Archaeidae) from southern Australia ZooKeys, 191: 1-62. doi

Images

Figure 1. Habitus images of live Archaeidae from southern Australia: A paratype female Zephyrarchaea vichickmani sp. n. from Acheron Gap, Central Highlands, Victoria; B holotype male Zephyrarchaea barrettae sp. n. from Talyuberlup Peak, Stirling Range National Park, Western Australia; C paratype female Zephyrarchaea janineae sp. n. from Karri Valley, Western Australia; D male Zephyrarchaea marki sp. n. from Thistle Cove, Cape Le Grand National Park, Western Australia; E female Zephyrarchaea mainae (Platnick) from William Bay National Park, Western Australia; F female Zephyrarchaea mainae from Bremer Bay, Western Australia.  Figure 3. Phylogeny of Zephyrarchaea species from Rix and Harvey (2012)[3], showing results from a combined, gene-partitioned Bayesian analysis of that study’s multi-gene dataset (2591 bp: COI, COII, tRNA-K, tRNA-D, ATP8, ATP6, H3). Clades with >95% posterior probability support are denoted by thickened branches, with lower individual clade support values shown above nodes. Note the presence of three main regional clades, each illustrated with an exemplar species (highlighted*). The Victorian species Zephyrarchaea grayi sp. n. and Zephyrarchaea porchi sp. n. were not able to be sequenced for this study (shown as black dots on inset map).  Figure 8. Lateral ‘head’ profiles of males of species of Zephyrarchaea, 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 Zephyrarchaea marae sp. n., showing the derivation of morphometric ratios; B, holotype Zephyrarchaea vichickmani sp. n.; C, holotype Zephyrarchaea marae sp. n.; D, holotype Zephyrarchaea porchi sp. n.; E, holotype Zephyrarchaea melindae sp. n.; F, holotype Zephyrarchaea barrettae sp. n.; G, holotype Zephyrarchaea mainae (Platnick, 1991b); H, holotype Zephyrarchaea marki sp. n.; I, holotype Zephyrarchaea janineae sp. n.   Figure 9. Lateral ‘head’ profiles of females of species of Zephyrarchaea, 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) (see Fig. 8): A, allotype Zephyrarchaea vichickmani sp. n.; B, allotype Zephyrarchaea marae sp. n.; C, holotype Zephyrarchaea grayi sp. n.; D, holotype Zephyrarchaea austini sp. n.; E, Zephyrarchaea mainae (Platnick, 1991b); F, allotype Zephyrarchaea janineae sp. n.; G, holotype Zephyrarchaea robinsi (Harvey, 2002a); H, allotype Zephyrarchaea melindae sp. n.; I, allotype Zephyrarchaea barrettae sp. n.  Figure 11. Zephyrarchaea janineae sp. n. A–B, Cephalothorax and abdomen, lateral view: A, allotype female (WAM T118981) from Karri Valley, Western Australia; B, holotype male (WAM T89559) from Karri Valley, Western Australia. 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, prolateral view. G, Allotype female internal genitalia, dorsal view. C1–2 = conductor sclerites 1–2; E = embolus; GP = genital plate; T = tegulum; (TS)1–3 = tegular sclerites 1–3. Scale bars: A–B = 1.0 mm; E = 0.2 mm.  Figure 21. Zephyrarchaea janineae sp. n., distribution and habitat: A, topographic map showing the known distribution of Archaeidae in south-western Western Australia, with collection localities for Zephyrarchaea janineae highlighted in yellow; B, satellite image showing detail of inset (A); C, wet eucalypt forest at the type locality – Karri Valley, Western Australia (August 2006). Image (C) by M. Rix.

Other References

1. ↑ Hopper S, Gioia P (2004) The Southwest Australian Floristic Region: evolution and conservation of a global hot spot of biodiversity. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 35: 623-650. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.35.112202.130201
2. ↑ Main B (1995) Additional records of the Gondwanan spider Austrarchaea from southwestern Australia. Western Australian Naturalist 20: 151-154.
3. ↑ Rix M, Harvey M (2012) Phylogeny and historical biogeography of ancient assassin spiders (Araneae: Archaeidae) in the Australian mesic zone: evidence for Miocene speciation within Tertiary refugia. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 62: 375-396. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.009