''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 Kangaroo Island (, ) is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Poi ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. It was discovered in 2010, and described 2012 by Michael G. Rix and Mark Harvey, and named for Andy Austin.

Description

The Kangaroo Island assassin spider is in size and lives in

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

of wet

eucalypt Eucalypt is any woody plant with Capsule (fruit), capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

woodland near Billy Goat Falls in the Western River Wilderness Protection Area on the island. The females are distinguished from other members of the ''

Zephyrarchaea ''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''. ...

'' genus by a small body size, a carapace length of less than 1.10mm a height/length ratio of less than 1.70mm. Additionally they have no tubercles on the abdomen, and a "strongly concave post-ocular depression in the lateral view". The males are unknown. Versioned wiki page: 2012-05-07, version 24292, https://species-id.net/w/index.php?title=Zephyrarchaea_austini&oldid=24292 , contributors (alphabetical order): Pensoft Publishers.

Conservation status

They were thought to be possibly extinct following the 2019–2020 Australian bushfires, after their only known habitat was burnt. The scientists who originally discovered it describe its survival is "unlikely at best". However, a female and a juvenile spider were found in September 2021 by researchers from the

South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultur ...

, and DNA analysis confirmed that they were of the same species. The facts that they were found outside the species' formerly known range in the Western River Protection Area, and that one is a juvenile, has given hope that there may be more populations. However the low dispersal remaining after the fires has likely led to less genetic diversity and therefore greater vulnerability, so intervention may be considered in the future to assist survival.

References

Archaeidae Endemic fauna of Australia Spiders described in 2012 Spiders of Australia {{Archaeidae-stub