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Issue: Vol. 2793 No. 1: 17 Mar. 2011
Type: Articles
Published: 2011-03-17
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2793.1.4
Page range: 47–55
Abstract views: 35
PDF downloaded: 1

Description of a new orb-weaving spider species representing the first record of Novaranea in Australia (Araneae: Araneidae: Araneinae)

Phoenix Environmental Sciences, 1/511 Wanneroo Road, Balcatta, Western Australia 6021, Australia Department of Terrestrial Zoology, Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, Western Australia 6986, Australia School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia
Araneae Cryptaranea Araneus New Zealand Gondwana

Abstract

The orb-weaving spider genus Novaranea Court & Forster, 1988, previously known only from New Zealand, is here reported from Australia for the first time with the description of a new species. Generic affinities, here based on characteristic shapes of the median and terminal apophyses of the male pedipalp, remain somewhat ambiguous as some of the endemic New Zealand araneine genera remain to be tested within a rigorous phylogenetic analysis. Novaranea courti n. sp. is found in the southeastern parts of Australia, including New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Mature spiders are generally found between January and March, although some specimens were collected in April, June and November. Novaranea courti n. sp. appears to prefer forest habitats (e.g. Southern Beech (Nothofagus) forest and Eucalyptus/Casuarina woodland), but was also found in more open areas such as grassand heathland.

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