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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 20(2)

Systematics of the Australasian spider family Pararchaeidae (Arachnida : Araneae)

Michael G. Rix
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A 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