Australian assassins, Part III: a review of the assassin spiders (Araneae, Archaeidae) of tropical north-eastern Queensland

Abstract

The assassin spiders of the family Archaeidae from tropical north-eastern Queensland are revised, with eight new species described from rainforest habitats of the Wet Tropics bioregion and Mackay-Whitsundays Hinterland: Austrarchaea griswoldisp. n., Austrarchaea hoskinisp. n., Austrarchaea karenaesp. n., Austrarchaea tealeisp. n., Austrarchaea thompsonisp. n., Austrarchaea wallaceisp. n., Austrarchaea westisp. n. and Austrarchaea woodaesp. n. Specimens of the only previously described species, Austrarchaea daviesae Forster & Platnick, 1984, are redescribed from the southern Atherton Tableland. The rainforests of tropical eastern Queensland are found to be a potential hotspot of archaeid diversity and endemism, with the region likely to be home to numerous additional short-range endemic taxa. A key to species complements the taxonomy, with maps, natural history information and conservation assessments provided for all species.