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Issue: Vol. 2414 No. 1: 30 Mar. 2010
Type: Articles
Published: 2010-03-30
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2414.1.2
Page range: 27–40
Abstract views: 37
PDF downloaded: 1

The first pararchaeid spider (Araneae: Pararchaeidae) from New Caledonia, with a discussion on spinneret spigots and egg sac morphology in Ozarchaea

Department of Terrestrial Zoology, Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, Perth, Western Australia 6986, Australia
Department of Terrestrial Zoology, Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, Perth, Western Australia 6986, Australia
Araneae taxonomy Nouvelle Calédonie Western Australia spinnerets spigots egg sac Palpimanoidea Entelegynae Araneoidea

Abstract

The first pararchaeid species to be recorded from outside Australia or New Zealand, Flavarchaea humboldti n. sp., is described from female specimens collected near the summit of Mont Humboldt, New Caledonia. Morphological and behavioural data are further described for Western Australian species of Ozarchaea Rix, with the spinneret spigot morphology of O. harveyi Rix imaged under a scanning electron microscope, and the egg sac of O. westraliensis Rix described for the first time. Pararchaeid spinnerets possess two major ampullate gland spigots on the anterior lateral spinnerets and no triad on the posterior lateral spinnerets; such a spinneret spigot arrangement does not support the placement of the Pararchaeidae in the superfamily Araneoidea, and further research is needed to test the phylogenetic position of this enigmatic family.

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