Zephyrarchaea

Zephyrarchaea is a genus of Australian assassin spiders first described by Michael Gordon Rix & Mark Harvey in 2012 for nine new species and two that were formerly placed in the genus Austrarchaea.[2] The name is based on the Latin zephyrus, meaning "west wind", referring to the western distribution in Australia and a preference for windy, coastal habitats by some species. It has been encountered in Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia.[1]

Zephyrarchaea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Archaeidae
Genus: Zephyrarchaea
Rix & Harvey, 2012[1]
Type species
Austrarchaea mainae
(Platnick, 1991)
Species

11; see text

Differentiation from Austrarchaea

They are distinguished from Austrarchaea by a notably shorter carapace, the distribution of long hairs (setae) on the male chelicerae, and by the shape of the conductor of the male palpal bulb. The Australian Alps may be a barrier dividing the two genera.[2]

Species

As of April 2019 the genus contains eleven species:[1]

References
  1. "Gen. Zephyrarchaea Rix & Harvey, 2012". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  2. Rix, M. G.; Harvey, M. S. (2012). "Australian assassins, part II: A review of the new assassin spider genus Zephyrarchaea (Araneae, Archaeidae) from southern Australia". ZooKeys. 191: 1–62. doi:10.3897/zookeys.191.3070. PMC 3353492. PMID 22639534.
  3. "'Assassin' spiders feared extinct after Kangaroo Island bushfires". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.


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