Zephyrarchaea marae Rix & Harvey 2012

Zephyrarchaea marae anatomy

Zephyrarchaea marae, the West Gippsland assassin spider, is a spider in the family Archaeidae. The species was first described by Michael G. Rix and Mark Harvey in 2012. It is endemic to Victoria in Australia.

Holotype male: Total length 3.03; leg I femur 1.99; F1/CL ratio 1.80. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige, with reddish-brown dorsal scute and sclerites (Fig. 17B). Carapace relatively short (CH/CL ratio 1.70); 1.10 long, 1.87 high, 1.08 wide; ‘neck’ 0.61 wide; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near posterior third of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.66), carapace with pronounced concave depression anterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.25) (Figs 8A, 8C). Chelicerae with short comb of accessory setae on anterior face of paturon (Fig. 17C). Abdomen 1.64 long, 1.31 wide; almost spherical in lateral profile, without dorsal hump-like tubercles; dorsal scute fused anteriorly to epigastric sclerites, extending posteriorly to cover anterior two-thirds of dorsal abdomen. Unexpanded pedipalp (Figs 17D–F) bulbous, almost spherical, with gently curved, tapering embolus supported by conductor sclerites 1–2 (C1–2); C2 relatively slender, sinuous, with S-shaped proximal portion; tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1) strongly curved, claw-like in prolateral view, with twisted, flattened and rounded apex; TS 2–3 projecting well beyond retro-distal rim of tegulum. Allotype female: Total length 3.95; leg I femur 2.10; F1/CL ratio 1.76. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown (with paler, partially encrusted material on ‘neck’); legs tan brown with darker annulations; abdomen variably beige-grey (Fig. 17A). Carapace relatively short (CH/CL ratio 1.86); 1.19 long, 2.22 high, 1.17 wide; ‘neck’ 0.72 wide; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) approaching posterior third of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.62), carapace with pronounced concave depression anterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.26) (Fig. 9B). Chelicerae without accessory setae on anterior face of paturon. Abdomen 2.31 long, 1.90 wide; spherical in lateral profile, without dorsal hump-like tubercles. Internal genitalia (Fig. 17G) with cluster of ≤ 15 sausage-shaped spermathecae fanning out either side of gonopore, clusters widely separated along midline of genital plate. Variation: Males (n = 2): total length 3.03–3.23; carapace length 1.09–1.10; carapace height 1.85–1.87; CH/CL ratio 1.69–1.70. Females (n = 2): total length 3.74–3.95; carapace length 1.18–1.19; carapace height 2.09–2.22; CH/CL ratio 1.77–1.86.

Zephyrarchaea marae is known only from temperate rainforest and mesic closed forest habitats in the Dandenong and Strzelecki Ranges of West Gippsland, east and south-east of Melbourne, Victoria (Fig. 27).