Systematics of the Australasian spider family Pararchaeidae (Arachnida : Araneae)
Michael G. RixA Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South Brisbane, Queensland 4101, Australia.
B Present address: Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, Perth, WA 6986, Australia. Email: rixm01@student.uwa.edu.au
Invertebrate Systematics 20(2) 203-254 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS05032
Submitted: 25 July 2005 Accepted: 15 February 2006 Published: 26 April 2006
Abstract
The Pararchaeidae, a family of cryptic spiders known only from Australia and New Zealand, is revised. Six new genera: Anarchaea, gen. nov., Flavarchaea, gen. nov., Forstrarchaea, gen. nov., Nanarchaea, gen. nov., Ozarchaea, gen. nov., Westrarchaea, gen. nov., and 24 new species are described, 23 from mainland Australia and one from New Zealand. Anarchaea, gen. nov. from eastern Australia contains four species: A. corticola (Hickman, 1969), comb. nov. (type species), A. falcata, sp. nov., A. raveni, sp. nov. and A. robusta (Rix, 2005), comb. nov. Flavarchaea from eastern, southern and south-western Australia contains seven species: F. anzac, sp. nov., F. badja, sp. nov., F. barmah, sp. nov., F. hickmani (Rix, 2005), comb. nov., F. lofty, sp. nov., F. lulu (Rix, 2005), comb. nov. (type species) and F. stirlingensis, sp. nov. Forstrarchaea is represented only by the type species F. rubra (Forster, 1949), comb. nov. from New Zealand. Nanarchaea from eastern Australia contains two species: N. bryophila (Hickman, 1969), comb. nov. and N. binnaburra (Forster, 1955), comb. nov. (type species). Ozarchaea from Australia and New Zealand contains 16 species: O. bodalla, sp. nov., O. bondi, sp. nov., O. daviesae, sp. nov., O. forsteri, sp. nov., O. harveyi, sp. nov., O. janineae, sp. nov., O. ornata (Hickman, 1969), comb. nov. (type species), O. platnicki, sp. nov., O. saxicola (Hickman, 1969), comb. nov., O. spurgeon, sp. nov., O. stradbroke, sp. nov., O. valida, sp. nov., O. waldockae, sp. nov., O. werrikimbe, sp. nov., O. westraliensis, sp. nov. and O. wiangarie, sp. nov. Pararchaea Forster, 1955 is represented only by the type species P. alba Forster, 1955 from New Zealand. Westrarchaea, endemic to south-western Western Australia, contains three species: W. pusilla, sp. nov., W. sinuosa, sp. nov. (type species) and W. spinosa, sp. nov. A morphological cladistic analysis of the Pararchaeidae supported monophyly of the genera. Natural history information is summarised for each species where known, and the moulting behaviour, mating behaviour and egg sac of a pararchaeid species are described for the first time.
Acknowledgments
This paper would not have been possible without the support and assistance of many people. To Norman Platnick (AMNH), Graham Milledge (AMS), Charles Griswold and Darrell Ubick (CAS), Grace Hall (LRA), Phil Sirvid (MNZ), Abigail Blair and Brian Patrick (OMD), Robert Raven and Owen Seeman (QMB), Lisa Boutin (QVM), David Hirst (SAM), Mark Harvey and Julianne Waldock (WAM), I am particularly grateful for loans of material and for sending so promptly such rare and valuable specimens. Thanks to Robert Raven, Barbara Baehr and Owen Seeman for assistance and great encouragement during my time at the Queensland Museum in 2005, and to Robert Raven for use of the scanning electron microscopy facilities. I received invaluable support and hospitality from Lisa Boutin during two field trips to Tasmania in 2002 and 2003, and from Mark Harvey and Mara Blosfelds during two visits to Perth in 2002 and 2005. I am very grateful to my father, Alan Rix, for years of assistance and patience in collecting pararchaeids and other spiders in the field. Thanks are also due to Robert Raven for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.
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Appendix 1. List of pararchaeid species
(Type species are indicated by an asterisk.)
*alba, Pararchaea NZ
anzac, Flavarchaea QLD
badja, Flavarchaea NSW
barmah, Flavarchaea NSW, VIC
*binnaburra, Nanarchaea QLD
bodalla, Ozarchaea NSW
bondi, Ozarchaea NSW
bryophila, Nanarchaea NSW, VIC, TAS
*corticola, Anarchaea TAS
daviesae, Ozarchaea QLD
falcata, Anarchaea NSW
forsteri, Ozarchaea NZ
harveyi, Ozarchaea WA
hickmani, Flavarchaea TAS
janineae, Ozarchaea NSW
lofty, Flavarchaea SA
*lulu, Flavarchaea TAS
*ornata, Ozarchaea TAS
platnicki, Ozarchaea QLD
pusilla, Westrarchaea WA
raveni, Anarchaea QLD
robusta, Anarchaea TAS
*rubra, Forstrarchaea NZ
saxicola, Ozarchaea TAS
*sinuosa, Westrarchaea WA
spinosa, Westrarchaea WA
spurgeon, Ozarchaea QLD
stirlingensis, Flavarchaea WA
stradbroke, Ozarchaea QLD
valida, Ozarchaea NSW
waldockae, Ozarchaea WA
werrikimbe, Ozarchaea NSW
westraliensis, Ozarchaea WA
wiangarie, Ozarchaea NSW