Afrarchaea Forster & Platnick, 1984

Lotz, Leon N., 2015, A new species of Afrarchaea (Araneae: Archaeidae) from South Africa, African Invertebrates 56 (2), pp. 409-409 : 410

Afrarchaea Forster & Platnick, 1984

Diagnosis: South African Afrarchaea was separated from Eriauchenius by Wood et al. (2015) on the basis of a molecular phylogeny. Forster and Platnick (1984) distinguished Afrarchaea from Archaea Koch & Berendt, 1854 (including Eriauchenius , which they treated as a synonym) by the absence of a narrow “neck” between the cephalic region and the pars cephalica and the different form of the female genitalia (see also Wood 2008), and from Eoarchaea Platnick & Forster, 1984 by the more pronounced elevation of the pars cephalica.

Description: In Afrarchaea , the CH /CL ratio ranges from 1.17 to 1.92. Cephalothorax reddish-brown with rows of granular tubercles; each tubercle with one white recumbent flatteneD ciliate hair. EYes in two rows; AME largest; ALE anD PLE contiguous; MOQ wider than long, narrower posteriorly than anteriorly; clypeus about diameter of AME. Chelicerae long, curved posteriorly near apex, medially thickened; base of chelicerae constricted before entering cheliceral foramen; promargin with numerous peg teeth; retromargin of fang furrow with or without true teeth; long, strong hair arises anteromedially on each chelicera near base. Stridulatory ridges on chelicerae and on dorsal side of sclerotised petiolus. Endites with weak serrula in all species; sternum long and linked to carapace by sclerotised strips between coxae. Legs brown, long, thin, evenly covered in adpressed hairs; metatarsus III with a brush of serrated bristles. Similar brush of serrated bristles present prolaterally on female palpal tarsi and male cymbia. Leg formula 1:4:2:3. Abdomen with long club-like hairs; lower than pars cephalic region, cuticle relatively thick. Six spinnerets, medians very small; anterior and posterior spinnerets short, blunt, with two segments each; spinnerets encircled by sclerotised ring.