Difference between revisions of "Austrarchaea clyneae"

Latest revision as of 15:59, 15 August 2011

Taxonavigation

Ordo: Araneae
Familia: Archaeidae
Genus: Austrarchaea

Name

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

Type material

Holotype male: Mount Clunie National Park, Mount Clunie, via Woodenbong, Queensland, Australia, 1975–1976, G. & S. Monteith (QMB S20425).

Other material examined

AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Mount Clunie National Park: Mount Clunie, via Woodenbong, pitfall trap, 670 m, 8.V.–15.VIII.1976, G. & S. Monteith, 2 juveniles (QMB S69811).

Additional material examined (of tentative identification)

AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Tooloom National Park: “Beaury State Forest", north along Wallaby Creek, 28°26'S, 152°27'E, 830 m, 9.IV.1993, M. Gray, G. Cassis, 1 juvenile (AMS KS37854).

Etymology

The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of Australian naturalist, zoologist, conservationist, author, wildlife photographer and documentary film-maker Densey Clyne, for her landmark contributions to Australian natural history, and for having such a profound impact on the senior author during his formative childhood years.

Diagnosis

Austrarchaea clyneae can be distinguished from all other Archaeidae from mid-eastern Australia by the very long, spiniform tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1) (Fig. 13E) combined with the unique shape of the conductor (Figs 13C-D), which is thin, gently-curved laterally and pointed distally.

Description

Holotype male: Total length 2.87; leg I femur 2.72; F1/CL ratio 2.62. Cephalothorax reddish-brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and dark beige, with darker reddish-brown dorsal scute and sclerites (Fig. 13A). Carapace very tall (CH/CL ratio 2.22); 1.04 long, 2.31 high, 0.99 wide; ‘neck’ 0.51 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 0.63), carapace with concave depression posterior to HPC; ‘head’ not strongly elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.23) (Fig. 8F). Chelicerae with short brush of accessory setae on anterior face of paturon (Fig. 13B). Abdomen 1.54 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. Unexpanded pedipalp (Figs 13C-E) with thin, gently-curved, pointed conductor; tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1) very long, spiniform, reaching to near distal tip of conductor, visible in retrolateral view; TS 2 spur-like, shorter than TS 1; TS 2a sinuous, largely obscured by TS 2; TS 3 indistinct, embedded within distal haematodocha, barely visible beyond retro-distal rim of tegulum.
Female: Unknown.

Distribution and habitat

Austrarchaea clyneae is known only from rainforest habitats in the Mount Clunie National Park of extreme north-eastern New South Wales (Fig. 31). A juvenile specimen from Tooloom National Park (near Urbenville) may also belong to this species based on proximity.

Conservation status

This species appears to be a short-range endemic taxon (Harvey 2002b^[1]), which although potentially restricted in distribution, seems well-protected in at least one World Heritage-listed National Park. 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 1. Habitus images of live Archaeidae from mid-eastern Australia: A–B, female Austrarchaea nodosa (Forster, 1956) from Binna Burra, Lamington National Park, Queensland; C–D, female A. mascordi sp. n. from Coolah Tops National Park, New South Wales; E–F, juvenile A. raveni sp. n. from Mount Glorious, Queensland. Images A–D by M. Rix; images E–F by Greg Anderson, used with permission.  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 13. Austrarchaea clyneae sp. n. A–E, Holotype male (QMB S20425) from Mount Clunie National Park, New South Wales: A, cephalothorax and abdomen, lateral view; B, chelicerae, lateral view, showing accessory setae; C–D, pedipalpal bulb, retrolateral view; E, detail of distal tegular sclerites, prodistal view. C = conductor; E = embolus; Es = embolic sclerite; T = tegulum; (TS)1–3 = tegular sclerites 1–3. Scale bars: A = 1.0 mm; D = 0.2 mm.  Figure 31. Austrarchaea clyneae 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. clyneae highlighted in yellow (red highlighted localities denote juvenile specimens of tentative identification); B, satellite image showing detail of inset (A); C, subtropical rainforest at the type locality – Mount Clunie National Park, Queensland (June 2008). Image (C) by A. Rix, used with permission.