Austrarchaea aleenae Bulburin Assassin Spider Rix & Harvey

Rix, Michael G. & Harvey, Mark S., 2011, Australian Assassins, Part I: A review of the Assassin Spiders (Araneae, Archaeidae) of mid-eastern Australia, ZooKeys 123, pp. 1-100 : 23-24

Austrarchaea aleenae Bulburin Assassin Spider Rix & Harvey sp. n. Figs 5G7B8B1735

Type material.

Holotype male: Bulburin National Park, via Builyan, off Bulburin Forest Road, Queensland, Australia, 24°31'17"S, 151°28'02"E, sifting elevated leaf litter, subtropical vine rainforest, 618 m, 25.X.2010, M. & A. Rix (QMB S90182).

Paratypes: Allotype female, Bulburin National Park (written "Bulburin State Forest"), Queensland, Australia, 25.II.-8.III.1977, R. Raven, V. Davies (QMB S1094); 1 male and 4 juveniles, same data as holotype (WAM T112552DNA: BUL-68-M/BUL-69-J/BUL-70-J).

Other material examined.

AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Bulburin National Park: "Bulburin State Forest", 19.III.1975, 1♂, 2 juveniles (QMB S1099); "Bulburin Forestry Nursery", NW. of Bundaberg, under rock in log, rainforest, 580 m, III.1975, M. Gray, C. Horseman, 2♀, 4 juveniles (AMS KS6776); same data, 2 juveniles (AMS KS87). Kalpowar State Forest: Mount Fort William, via Kalpowar, pyrethrum, logs, 18.I.1990, G. Monteith, 1♀, 2 juveniles (QMB S25803); Mount Fort William, 6 km NE. of Kalpowar, pyrethrum in rainforest, 700 m, 18.IX.1989, G. Monteith, 1 juvenile (QMB S31311).

Etymology.

The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of Aleena Wojcieszek, for her love of assassin spiders, and for her support of the senior author over many years.

Diagnosis.

Austrarchaea aleenae can be distinguished from all other Archaeidae from mid-eastern Australia except Austrarchaea alani sp. n. by the very large, porrect tegular sclerite 3 (TS 3) (Figs 17D-F); and from Austrarchaea alani sp. n. by the dense tuft of accessory setae on the male chelicerae (Fig. 17C).

This species can also be distinguished from other genotyped taxa from mid-eastern Australia (see Fig. 3B) by the following unique nucleotide substitution for COI (n = 3): A(429). The COI and COII substitutions G(363), A(552), G(627), T(897), G(1020), G(1029), G(1317) and T(1422) further distinguish this species from all other south-eastern Queensland species.

Description.

Holotype male: Total length 3.10; leg I femur 3.05; F1/CL ratio 2.77. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige, palest behind hump-like tubercles, with darker reddish-brown dorsal scute and sclerites (Fig. 17B). Carapace very tall (CH/CL ratio 2.38); 1.10 long, 2.63 high, 1.03 wide; ‘neck’ 0.56 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 0.68), carapace gently sloping and almost horizontal anterior and posterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated postero-dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.34) (Fig. 8B). Chelicerae with dense tuft of accessory setae on anterior face of paturon (Fig. 17C). Abdomen 1.67 long, 1.23 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 17D-F) with broad, distally-directed foliate conductor; tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1) spiniform, widest across middle, obscured by conductor in retrolateral view; TS 2 thin, spiniform, longer than TS 1; TS 2a sinuous, largely obscured by TS 2; TS 3 very large, porrect, with broadly-pointed rectangular apex projecting well beyond retro-distal rim of tegulum.

Allotype female: Total length 3.62; leg I femur 3.17; F1/CL ratio 2.40. Cephalothorax tan-brown; legs pale tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige (Figs 5G, 17A). Carapace very tall (CH/CL ratio 2.25); 1.32 long, 2.97 high, 1.18 wide; ‘neck’ 0.62 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 0.64), carapace gently sloping posterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated postero-dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.33) (Fig. 7B). Chelicerae without accessory setae on anterior face of paturon. Abdomen 1.85 long, 1.28 wide; with three pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1-6) (Fig. 5G). Internal genitalia with dense cluster of ≤ 15 variably shaped spermathecae on either side of gonopore, clusters meeting near midline of genital plate (Fig. 17G); innermost (anterior) spermathecae longest, sausage-shaped, curved antero-laterally; outermost (posterior) spermathecae bulbous; other spermathecae variably pyriform, straight, directed antero-laterally.

Variation: Males (n=3): total length 2.82-3.10; carapace length 1.03-1.10; carapace height 2.35-2.63; CH/CL ratio 2.27-2.44. Females (n=4): total length 3.13-3.62; carapace length 1.26-1.32; carapace height 2.82-2.97; CH/CL ratio 2.25-2.26.

Distribution and habitat.

Austrarchaea aleenae is known only from rainforest habitats in the Kalpowar-Builyan region of south-eastern Queensland, in the Bulburin National Park and nearby Kalpowar State Forest (Fig. 35).

Conservation status.

This species appears to be a short-range endemic taxon ( Harvey 2002b), which although potentially restricted in distribution, is abundant within the Bulburin National Park (M. Rix, pers. obs.). It is not considered to be of conservation concern.