Austrarchaea monteithi, Rix & Harvey, 2011
publication ID |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.123.1448 |
persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/20234A00-F7CA-171F-A9B0-1F16D6B2F430 |
treatment provided by |
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scientific name |
Austrarchaea monteithi |
status |
sp. nov. |
Austrarchaea monteithi View in CoL ZBK Gibraltar Range Assassin Spider Rix & Harvey sp. n. Figs 5F7F9A1937
Type material.
Holotype male: Gibraltar Range National Park, World Heritage Walk, off Gwydir Highway, near Richardsons Creek, New South Wales, Australia, 29°29'23"S, 152°19'47, sifting elevated leaf litter, subtropical rainforest, 1061 m, 20.IV.2010, M. Rix, D. Harms (AMS KS114977).
Paratype: Allotype female, same data as holotype (AMS KS114976DNA: Ar52-92-F).
Other material examined.
AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Gibraltar Range National Park: same data as holotype, 2 juveniles (WAM T112570DNA: Ar52-93-J/Ar52-94-J); "Gibraltar Range", pyrethrum, rainforest, 30.III.1980, G. Monteith, 1 juvenile (QMB S30824).
Etymology.
The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of Dr Geoff Monteith, for first discovering this species in the Gibraltar Range National Park.
Diagnosis.
Austrarchaea monteithi can be distinguished from all other Archaeidae from mid-eastern Australia by the presence of only five dorsal hump-like tubercles on the abdomen (Fig. 5F).
This species can also be distinguished from other genotyped taxa from mid-eastern Australia (see Fig. 3B) by the following 29 unique nucleotide substitutions for COI and COII (n = 3): G(81), T(93), A(243), C(300), C(360), C(396), A(597), A(957), C(993), G(1008), C(1115), A(1212), G(1216), T(1217), T(1220), A(1221), G(1229), G(1231), T(1233), G(1275), C(1369), A(1390), G(1391), G(1414), T(1453), G(1509), A(1525), G(1526), G(1554).
Description.
Holotype male: Total length 3.13; leg I femur 2.91; F1/CL ratio 2.58. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige, with darker reddish-brown dorsal scute and sclerites (Fig. 19B). Carapace tall (CH/CL ratio 2.07); 1.13 long, 2.33 high, 1.05 wide; ‘neck’ 0.53 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near middle of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.54), carapace with concave depression posterior to HPC; ‘head’ not strongly elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.25) (Fig. 9A). Chelicerae with short brush of accessory setae on anterior face of paturon (Fig. 19C). Abdomen 1.69 long, 1.10 wide; with five dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1-5), HT1-4 arranged in two pairs; dorsal scute fused anteriorly to epigastric sclerites, extending posteriorly to first pair of hump-like tubercles; HT 3-5 each covered by separate dorsal sclerites. Unexpanded pedipalp (Figs 19D-F) with stout, almost spherical bulb and thin, strongly hooked conductor; embolic sclerite with broad, looped proximal portion extending for entire length of conductor; tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1) relatively short, filiform, obscured by conductor in retrolateral view; TS 2 spur-like, longer than TS 1; TS 2a sinuous, largely obscured by TS 2; TS 3 embedded proximally within distal haematodocha, with sharply-pointed apex projecting ventrally beyond retro-distal rim of tegulum.
Allotype female: Total length 3.38; leg I femur 3.08; F1/CL ratio 2.31. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige (Fig. 19A). Carapace tall (CH/CL ratio 2.12); 1.33 long, 2.82 high, 1.21 wide; ‘neck’ 0.66 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near middle of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.55), carapace with concave depression posterior to HPC; ‘head’ not strongly elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.23) (Fig. 7F). Chelicerae without accessory setae on anterior face of paturon. Abdomen 1.85 long, 1.44 wide; with five dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1-5), HT1-4 arranged in two pairs (Fig. 5F). Internal genitalia with cluster of ≤ 12 variably shaped spermathecae on either side of gonopore, clusters widely separated along midline of genital plate (Fig. 19G); innermost (anterior) spermathecae longest; other spermathecae variably pyriform, straight, directed antero-laterally.
Distribution and habitat.
Austrarchaea monteithi is known only from subtropical rainforest habitats in the Gibraltar Range National Park of north-eastern New South Wales (Fig. 37).
Conservation status.
This enigmatic species has an imperfectly known distribution, and although potentially restricted, appears to be relatively abundant within the World Heritage-listed Gibraltar Range National Park near Richardsons Creek (M. Rix, pers. obs.). It is not considered to be of conservation concern.
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
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