Zephyrarchaea

Zephyrarchaea
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Archaeidae
Genus:	Zephyrarchaea Rix & Harvey, 2012[1]
Type species
Austrarchaea mainae (Platnick, 1991)
Species
11; see text

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.^[2] The name is based on the 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.^[1]

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.^[2]

As of April 2019^[update] the genus contains eleven species:^[1]

• 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

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