Araneidae

Paquin, Pierre, Vink, Cor J., Dupérré, Nadine, Sirvid, Phil J. & Court, David J., 2008, Nomina dubia and faunistic issues with New Zealand spiders (Araneae), Insecta Mundi 2008 (46), pp. 1-6 : 4

Araneidae

Araneus lineaacutus ( Urquhart 1887: 90) = Zealaranea crassa ( Walckenaer 1842) re-affirmed syn-

onymy.

Araneus powelli ( Urquhart 1894: 214) = Novaranea laevigata ( Urquhart 1891) re-affirmed synonymy.

Araneus sublutius ( Urquhart 1892b: 241) = Zealaranea trinotata ( Urquhart 1890) re-affirmed syn-

onymy.

Araneus ventricosellus ( Roewer 1942: 835) = Eriophora heroine (L. Koch 1871) re-affirmed synonymy.

Court and Forster (1988) addressed the identity of all New Zealand species included in Araneus and synomymised or transferred these species to other genera, but a few Araneus species are still listed for New Zealand in the World Spider Catalog ( Platnick 2008). We report here the conclusion of Court and Forster (1988) who studied the type material of Urquhart kept at CMNZ and/or recognized species based on Urquhart’s original descriptions. Araneus lineaacutus ( Urquhart 1887) was declared a synonym of Zealaranea crassa ( Walckenaer 1842: 127) in the summary table of Court and Forster (1988: 69) [as linea acuta] but was omitted in the species synonymy given on page 70. Similarly, Araneus powelli ( Urquhart 1894) is a synonym of Novaranea laevigata ( Urquhart 1891: 171) but was omitted in species synonymy (page 114); Araneus sublutius ( Urquhart 1892b) is a synonym of Zealaranea trinotata ( Urquhart 1890: 247) [as sublutia] but was omitted in the species synonymy (page 72); Araneus ventricosellus ( Roewer 1942) is a replacement name for Epeira ventriosa Urquhart 1892b: 243 (preoccupied), and declared a synonym of Eriophora heroine (L. Koch 1871: 49) but was omitted in the species synonymy (page 100). These omissions in Court and Forster (1988) were accidental and did not reflect taxonomic uncertainty. In order to provide accurate faunistic data for New Zealand we re-affirm these synonyms.

Araneus brisbanae (L. Koch 1867: 176) from New Zealand. Misidentification.

The original and only record of A. brisbanae in New Zealand is from Keyserling (1887: 164) who stated: “Mr Bradley sammelte dieselbe Art in Neu Seeland.” (Mr. Bradley collected the same species in New Zealand). After studying specimens of A. brisbanae from Australia, Court and Forster (1988: 113) concluded that the species does not occur in New Zealand and the specimens Bradley collected in New Zealand were misidentified and were likely to have been Eriophora decorosa Urquhart 1894 . Araneus brisbanae is a well-known Australian species that belongs in an undescribed genus (V.W. Framenau, pers. comm.).