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Australian Journal of
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Quokkaraneus, a new monotypic genus of Australian orb-weaving spider (Araneae, Araneidae)
Pedro de S. Castanheira & Volker W. Framenau
Author details ⏷
Pedro de S. Castanheira[1] & Volker W. Framenau[1,2,3,*]
[1] Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, 90 South St, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia
[2] Department of Terrestrial Zoology, Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, Western Australia, 6986, Australia
[3] Zoological Museum Hamburg, Leibnitz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB), Centre for Taxonomy & Morphology, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
Abstract
A new monotypic Australian genus in the orb-weaving spider family Araneidae Clerck, 1757 is described, Quokkaraneus gen. nov., with Q. necopinus (Keyserling, 1887) comb. nov. as type species. Morphologically the new genus has affinities with the Australasian clade informally termed 'backobourkiines', due to the presence of a single patellar macroseta and the median apophysis forming an arch over the radix in the male pedipalp. It distinctly differs from other genera of this clade by somatic characters, such as a unique white cephalic and/or thoracic area and abdomen. Some genitalic characters are also diagnostic amongst the backobourkiines, such as a C-shaped median apophysis with pointed tip, triangular terminal apophysis and prominent concave conductor in males, and a very broad female epigyne scape. Quokkaraneus necopinus comb. nov. occurs in southern Australia, from western Victoria to south-western Western Australia.
Cite this paper as: Castanheira PdS & Framenau VW (2022). Quokkaraneus, a new monotypic genus of Australian orb-weaving spider (Araneae, Araneidae). Australian Journal of Taxonomy 10: 1–9. doi: https://doi.org/10.54102/ajt.a7oq2
This paper was published on: 7/12/2022
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