Zephyrarchaea Explained

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.^[1] The name is based on the Latin 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.

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.^[1]

Species

the genus contains eleven species:^[2]

• Zephyrarchaea austini Rix & Harvey, 2012 – Kangaroo Island, South Australia
• Zephyrarchaea barrettae Rix & Harvey, 2012 – Western Australia
• Zephyrarchaea grayi Rix & Harvey, 2012 – Victoria
• Zephyrarchaea janineae Rix & Harvey, 2012 – Western Australia
• Zephyrarchaea mainae (Platnick, 1991) – Western Australia; type
• Zephyrarchaea marae Rix & Harvey, 2012 – Victoria
• Zephyrarchaea marki Rix & Harvey, 2012 – Western Australia
• Zephyrarchaea melindae Rix & Harvey, 2012 – Western Australia
• Zephyrarchaea porchi Rix & Harvey, 2012 – Victoria
• Zephyrarchaea robinsi (Harvey, 2002) – Western Australia
• Zephyrarchaea vichickmani Rix & Harvey, 2012 – Victoria

Notes and References

1. 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. 1–62. 191. 10.3897/zookeys.191.3070 . 22639534 . 3353492. free.
2. Gen. Zephyrarchaea Rix & Harvey, 2012. World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. 2019-05-16. 2019. Natural History Museum Bern. 10.24436/2.