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10 August 2022 Rainforest pelican spiders (Archaeidae: Austrarchaea) of south-eastern Queensland, Australia: two new species and a distributional reassessment of regional endemic clades
Michael G. Rix, Jessica Worthington Wilmer, Mark S. Harvey
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Abstract

Two new species of pelican spiders (family Archaeidae) are described from rainforest habitats in south-eastern Queensland, Australia – Austrarchaea davidi Rix, sp. nov. and A. laidlawae Rix, sp. nov. – and the female of A. clyneae Rix & Harvey, 2011 is described for the first time. Phylogenetic analysis of a mitochondrial molecular dataset for the genes cytochrome c oxidase subunits I and II reveals that these two new species are the closest relatives of A. judyae Rix & Harvey, 2011 and A. clyneae, respectively, with mitochondrial sequencing also used to identify newly-collected specimens of Austrarchaea from populations throughout south-eastern Queensland. These recent collections were largely made during dedicated survey work conducted after the devastating 2019–20 summer bushfires in eastern Australia. We further provide a synopsis of the archaeid fauna of south-eastern Queensland, which is comprised of 11 species in two monophyletic regional-endemic clades. A revised key to species is presented for both clades, along with updated distributional information, and live habitus images for nine of the 11 species.

Michael G. Rix, Jessica Worthington Wilmer, and Mark S. Harvey "Rainforest pelican spiders (Archaeidae: Austrarchaea) of south-eastern Queensland, Australia: two new species and a distributional reassessment of regional endemic clades," The Journal of Arachnology 50(2), 231-249, (10 August 2022). https://doi.org/10.1636/JoA-S-21-071
Received: 8 November 2021; Accepted: 14 December 2021; Published: 10 August 2022
KEYWORDS
Assassin spider
biogeography
conservation
Palpimanoidea
phylogeny
taxonomy
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