''Zephyrarchaea'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

assassin spiders Archaeidae, also known as assassin spiders and pelican spiders, is a spider family with about ninety described species in five genera. It contains small spiders, ranging from long, that prey exclusively on other spiders. They are unusual in that ...

first described by

Michael Gordon Rix Michael Gordon Rix is an Australian arachnologist, whose publications mainly concern spiders. , he was Principal Curator of Arachnology and Research Fellow in the Biodiversity and Geosciences Program at the Queensland Museum. He has held numerou ...

Mark Harvey Mark Harvey (born 11 June 1965) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He played over 200 games during fourteen seasons with the Essendon Football Club, winning three premierships, and was senior coach of Fremantle from 2007 t ...

in 2012 for nine new species and two that were formerly placed in the genus ''

Austrarchaea ''Austrarchaea'' is a genus of Australian Archaeidae, assassin spiders first described by Raymond Robert Forster & Norman I. Platnick in 1984. A further 25 were described by Michael G. Rix, Michael Gordon Rix and Mark Harvey (arachnologist), Mark ...

''. The name is based on the Latin ', 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 Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Differentiation from ''Austrarchaea''

They are distinguished from ''Austrarchaea'' by a notably shorter carapace, the distribution of long hairs (setae) on the male

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated fangs, or similarly ...

, and by the shape of the conductor of the male

palpal bulb The two palpal bulbs – also known as palpal organs and genital bulbs – are the copulatory organs of a male spider. They are borne on the last segment of the pedipalps (the front "limbs" of a spider), giving the spider an appearance often descr ...

. The

Australian Alps The Australian Alps is a mountain range in southeast Australia. It comprises an interim Australian bioregion,

may be a barrier dividing the two genera.

Species

the genus contains eleven species: * ''

Zephyrarchaea austini ''Zephyrarchaea austini'' or the Kangaroo Island assassin spider is a species of Australian assassin spiders that is endemic to the north west of Kangaroo Island, South Australia. It was discovered in 2010, and described 2012 by Michael G. Rix ...

'' Rix & Harvey, 2012 –

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

, 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 ''Zephyrarchaea'' is a genus of Australian Archaeidae, assassin spiders first described by Michael Gordon Rix & Mark Harvey (arachnologist), Mark Harvey in 2012 for nine new species and two that were formerly placed in the genus ''Austrarchaea''. ...

'' Rix & Harvey, 2012 – Western Australia * '' Zephyrarchaea porchi'' Rix & Harvey, 2012 – Victoria * '' Zephyrarchaea robinsi'' (Harvey, 2002) – Western Australia * '' Zephyrarchaea vichickmani'' Rix & Harvey, 2012 – Victoria

References

Araneomorphae genera Archaeidae Endemic fauna of Australia Spiders of Australia {{Archaeidae-stub