Austrarchaea harmsi Rix & Harvey 2011

Austrarchaea harmsi is a species of spider in the family Archaeidae. It is endemic to Australia.

Holotype male: Total length 2.67; leg I femur 2.67; F1/CL ratio 2.57. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown brown and beige, with darker reddish-brown dorsal scute and sclerites (Fig. 16B). Carapace tall (CH/CL ratio 2.12); 1.04 long, 2.21 high, 0.97 wide; ‘neck’ 0.46 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near posterior margin of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.88), carapace slightly concave anterior to HPC; ‘head’ strongly elevated postero-dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.40) (Fig. 8E). Chelicerae with dense, pick-like tuft of accessory setae on anterior face of paturon (Fig. 16C). Abdomen 1.44 long, 1.05 wide; with three pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1–6); dorsal scute fused anteriorly to epigastric sclerites, extending posteriorly to first pair of hump-like tubercles; HT 3–6 each covered by separate dorsal sclerites. Unexpanded pedipalp (Figs 16D-F) with twisted, ‘shield-shaped’ conductor; tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1) relatively short, spiniform, obscured by conductor in retrolateral view; TS 2 spur-like, sinuous, longer than TS 1; TS 2a sinuous, largely obscured by TS 2; TS 3 porrect, spur-like, with sharply-pointed apex mostly obscured in retrolateral view by haematodochal membranes and retro-distal rim of tegulum. Allotype female: Total length 3.28; leg I femur 2.72; F1/CL ratio 2.28. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige (Fig. 16A). Carapace tall (CH/CL ratio 2.09); 1.19 long, 2.49 high, 1.08 wide; ‘neck’ 0.56 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns (lateral pair asymmetrically reduced); highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near middle of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.60), carapace gently sloping posterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated postero-dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.36) (Fig. 7E). Chelicerae without accessory setae on anterior face of paturon. Abdomen 1.90 long, 1.44 wide; with three pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1–6). Internal genitalia with dense cluster of ≤ 15 variably shaped spermathecae on either side of gonopore, clusters meeting near midline of genital plate (Fig. 16G); innermost (anterior) spermathecae longest, sausage-shaped, curved antero-laterally; other spermathecae variably pyriform, straight, directed antero-laterally. Variation: Males (n=5): total length 2.64–3.05; carapace length 1.04–1.08; carapace height 2.15–2.24; CH/CL ratio 2.08–2.14.

Austrarchaea harmsi is known only from araucarian rainforest habitats in the Bunya Mountains National Park of south-eastern Queensland (Fig. 34).