Austrarchaea tealei

Notice:

This page is derived from the original publication listed below, whose author(s) should always be credited. Further contributors may edit and improve the content of this page and, consequently, need to be credited as well (see page history). Any assessment of factual correctness requires a careful review of the original article as well as of subsequent contributions. If you are uncertain whether your planned contribution is correct or not, we suggest that you use the associated discussion page instead of editing the page directly. This page should be cited as follows (rationale): Rix M, Harvey M (2012) Australian Assassins, Part III: A review of the Assassin Spiders (Araneae, Archaeidae) of tropical north-eastern Queensland. ZooKeys 218 : 1–50, doi. Versioned wiki page: 2012-08-30, version 27039, https://species-id.net/w/index.php?title=Austrarchaea_tealei&oldid=27039 , contributors (alphabetical order): Pensoft Publishers. Citation formats to copy and paste BibTeX: @article{Rix2012ZooKeys218, author = {Rix, Michael G. AND Harvey, Mark S.}, journal = {ZooKeys}, publisher = {Pensoft Publishers}, title = {Australian Assassins, Part III: A review of the Assassin Spiders (Araneae, Archaeidae) of tropical north-eastern Queensland}, year = {2012}, volume = {218}, issue = {}, pages = {1--50}, doi = {10.3897/zookeys.218.3662}, url = {http://www.pensoft.net/journals/zookeys/article/3662/abstract}, note = {Versioned wiki page: 2012-08-30, version 27039, https://species-id.net/w/index.php?title=Austrarchaea_tealei&oldid=27039 , contributors (alphabetical order): Pensoft Publishers.} } RIS/ Endnote: TY - JOUR T1 - Australian Assassins, Part III: A review of the Assassin Spiders (Araneae, Archaeidae) of tropical north-eastern Queensland A1 - Rix M A1 - Harvey M Y1 - 2012 JF - ZooKeys JA - VL - 218 IS - UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.218.3662 SP - 1 EP - 50 PB - Pensoft Publishers M1 - Versioned wiki page: 2012-08-30, version 27039, https://species-id.net/w/index.php?title=Austrarchaea_tealei&oldid=27039 , contributors (alphabetical order): Pensoft Publishers. M3 - doi:10.3897/zookeys.218.3662 Wikipedia/ Citizendium: <ref name="Rix2012ZooKeys218">{{Citation | author = Rix M, Harvey M | title = Australian Assassins, Part III: A review of the Assassin Spiders (Araneae, Archaeidae) of tropical north-eastern Queensland | journal = ZooKeys | year = 2012 | volume = 218 | issue = | pages = 1--50 | pmid = | publisher = Pensoft Publishers | doi = 10.3897/zookeys.218.3662 | url = http://www.pensoft.net/journals/zookeys/article/3662/abstract | pmc = | accessdate = 2024-12-22 }} Versioned wiki page: 2012-08-30, version 27039, https://species-id.net/w/index.php?title=Austrarchaea_tealei&oldid=27039 , contributors (alphabetical order): Pensoft Publishers.</ref> See also the citation download page at the journal.

Taxonavigation

Ordo: Araneae
Familia: Archaeidae
Genus: Austrarchaea

Name

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

• Austrarchaea sp. n. ‘(NEQ-1)’ Rix and Harvey 2012b: 379, figs 3, 5–7.

Vernacular name

Mossman Gorge Assassin Spider

Type material

Holotype male: Daintree National Park (Mossman Gorge Section), Mossman Gorge, off water access road ~50 m from carpark, Queensland, Australia, 16°28'20"S, 145°19'53"E, sifting elevated leaf litter under lawyer vine palms, tropical rainforest, 78 m, 21.III.2012, M. & A. Rix (QMB S92210).

Other material examined

AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Daintree National Park (Mossman Gorge Section): Mossman Gorge, [16°28'20"S, 145°19'53"E], 23.IV.1967, D. Colless, 1♀ (ANIC); Mossman Gorge, Water Access Track, Site 2, 16°28'28"S, 145°19'41"E, sieved litter from around roots and rocks on shady steep section of bank, tropical rainforest, 1.IV.2009, K. Edward, J. Waldock, 1 juvenile (WAM T97462).

Other material (not examined)

AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Daintree National Park (Mossman Gorge Section): Mossman Gorge, carpark, 16°28'20"S, 145°19'52"E, day collecting, turning over logs, rainforest, 45 m, 17–18.IV.2009, H. Wood, 4♂, 2♀ (CASENT 9028385).

Etymology

The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of Roy Teale, for his friendship to MSH, for his efforts in facilitating systematic research at the Western Australian Museum, and for his crucial support of the Western Australian Museum’s ‘archaeid project’ since 2007.

Diagnosis

Austrarchaea tealei can be distinguished from all other Archaeidae from north-eastern Queensland except Austrarchaea karenae, Austrarchaea thompsoni and Austrarchaea wallacei by the presence of a triangular spur on the embolus (Figs 11E–F); from Austrarchaea thompsoni by the presence of a prominent, triangular tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1), which is visible in ventral view (Fig. 11E); and from Austrarchaea karenae and Austrarchaea wallacei by the shape of tegular sclerite 3 (TS 3), which has a second short, pointed process distally (Fig. 11E).

Description

Holotype male: Total length 2.67; leg I femur 3.09; F1/CL ratio 2.85. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled dark grey-brown and beige, with darker brown dorsal scute and sclerites (Fig. 11B). Carapace tall (CH/CL ratio 2.17); 1.08 long, 2.35 high, 1.00 wide, ‘neck’ 0.54 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) approaching posterior quarter of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.71), carapace gently sloping posterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.30). Chelicerae with short brush of accessory setae on anterior face of paturon (Fig. 11C). Abdomen 1.44 long, 1.05 wide; with two pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1-4); dorsal scute fused anteriorly to epigastric sclerites, extending posteriorly to first pair of hump-like tubercles; HT 3-4 each covered by separate dorsal sclerites. Unexpanded pedipalp (Figs 11D–F) of Type A morphology (Fig. 6), with large, retrolaterally directed, arched conductor; embolus distally directed, slightly sinuous, with short triangular spur adjacent to distal rim of conductor, embolus projecting beyond distal rim of conductor by ~1/2 length of exposed embolic portion; tegular sclerite 3 (TS 3) short, spur-like, with flattened proximal portion and sharply pointed, claw-like apex bearing second short, pointed process distally; TS 2-2a looped over retrolateral edge of conductor, TS 2 with rounded, subtriangular apex, TS 2a projecting beyond distal rim of conductor but not extending to near tip of embolus; TS 1 triangular, with tapered, slightly curved tooth-like apex.
Female (ANIC): Total length 2.95; leg I femur 2.86; F1/CL ratio 2.37. Cephalothorax reddish-brown; legs pale tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige (Fig. 11A). Carapace tall (CH/CL ratio 2.04); 1.21 long, 2.46 high, 1.13 wide; ‘neck’ 0.69 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 0.65), carapace gently sloping posterior to HPC; ‘head’ not strongly elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.23). Chelicerae without accessory setae on anterior face of paturon. Abdomen 1.64 long, 1.28 wide; with four pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1-4). Internal genitalia (Fig. 11G) with cluster of 4-6 variably-shaped spermathecae on either side of gonopore, clusters widely separated along midline of genital plate; innermost (anterior) spermathecae longest, sausage-shaped, bent laterally; other spermathecae variably sausage-shaped or pyriform, smallest anteriorly, becoming progressively larger posteriorly.

Distribution and habitat

Austrarchaea tealei is known only from Mossman Gorge, 4.5 km west-south-west of Mossman (Figs 20, 25). Specimens have been collected under logs (as newly-hatched juveniles; H. Wood, pers. comm.), or by beating and sifting elevated leaf litter at the bases of lawyer vine palms (Calamus spp.) in lowland tropical rainforest.

Conservation status

Unknown (data deficient).

Remarks

The female specimen described above (from the ANIC) is tentatively identified as conspecific with the holotype of Austrarchaea tealei, despite a somewhat different carapace morphology and a fairly imprecise collection locality. Austrarchaea thompsoni does occur on nearby mountains above the Mossman River, and thus it possible (albeit unlikely) that the female specimen from “Mossman Gorge” (collected in 1967) may actually belong to another species. We have described it here in the absence of evidence suggesting any sympatry in the Mossman Gorge region, given the fact that all other recently collected Mossman Gorge material appears to be conspecific with the holotype (including CAS material; H. Wood, pers. comm.), and given the similarly small body size of this female specimen and the holotype male (Fig. 5).

Original Description

• Rix, M; Harvey, M; 2012: Australian Assassins, Part III: A review of the Assassin Spiders (Araneae, Archaeidae) of tropical north-eastern Queensland ZooKeys, 218: 1-50. doi

Images

'Figure 5. Graphs depicting the relationship between carapace length (CL) and carapace height (CH) for species of Austrarchaea from north-eastern Queensland. Smaller grey dots denote species of Austrarchaea from mid-eastern Australia (see Rix and Harvey 2011); smaller grey squares denote species of Zephyrarchaea from southern Australia (see Rix and Harvey 2012a). Note the relatively large body sizes of Austrarchaea hoskini sp. n. and Austrarchaea woodae sp. n., and the body size variation between populations of Austrarchaea daviesae from the Atherton Tableland (AT) and Mount Bartle Frere (Mt BF), respectively.  Figure 6. Morphological differences between the five pedipalp types (Types A-E) identified for species of Austrarchaea from north-eastern Queensland, with left bulbs illustrated in ventral view at scale-identical sizes. Type A pedipalps are shared among at least five species from the Wet Tropics bioregion; Types B-E are autapomorphic for single species. Note especially the variation in the size and shape of the bulb, and the shape and orientation of the conductor. C = conductor; E = embolus; ESp = embolic spur; (TS)1-3 = tegular sclerites 1-3. Scale bar = 0.2 mm.  Figure 11. Austrarchaea tealei sp. n. A–B, Cephalothorax and abdomen, lateral view: A, female (ANIC) from Mossman Gorge, Daintree National Park, NE. Queensland; B, holotype male (QMB S92210) from Mossman Gorge, Daintree National Park, NE. Queensland. C, Holotype male chelicerae, lateral view, showing accessory setae. D–F, Holotype male pedipalp: D–E, bulb, ventral view; F, detail of distal tegular sclerites, retrolateral view. G, Female (ANIC) internal genitalia, postero-ventral view (genital plate removed). C = conductor; E = embolus; ESp = embolic spur; T = tegulum; (TS)1-3 = tegular sclerites 1-3. Scale bars: A-B = 1.0 mm; E = 0.2 mm.  Figure 20. Distribution of Austrarchaea tealei sp. n.: A, topographic map showing the known distribution of Archaeidae in the north-eastern Queensland Wet Tropics bioregion, with collection localities for Austrarchaea tealei highlighted in yellow; B-C, topographic and satellite maps showing detail of inset (A). Labelled boundaries in (B) denote upland subregional zones of faunal endemism identified by Winter et al. (1984), Williams et al. (1996) and other authors for the northern Wet Tropics (modified from Edward 2011). Small squares in (B–C) denote unidentified juvenile specimens; small circles denote unidentified female specimens; large circles denote described species of Austrarchaea. BM = Black Mountain Corridor; CU = Carbine Uplands; FU = Mt Finnigan Uplands; TU = Thornton Uplands; WU = Windsor Uplands.  ' Figure 25. Summary distribution of the Austrarchaea daviesae species-group in tropical north-eastern Queensland, showing collections records for described species (labelled, with black circles) and unidentified juveniles or females (yellow circles) (see Table 1). Note the high proportion of unidentified specimens, especially within the Wet Tropics bioregion between Cooktown and Ingham.