Austrarchaea tealei Rix & Harvey 2012

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

Holotype male: Total length 2.67; leg I femur 3.09; F1/CL ratio 2.85. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled dark grey-brown and beige, with darker brown dorsal scute and sclerites (Fig. 11B). Carapace tall (CH/CL ratio 2.17); 1.08 long, 2.35 high, 1.00 wide, ‘neck’ 0.54 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) approaching posterior quarter of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.71), carapace gently sloping posterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.30). Chelicerae with short brush of accessory setae on anterior face of paturon (Fig. 11C). Abdomen 1.44 long, 1.05 wide; with two pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1-4); dorsal scute fused anteriorly to epigastric sclerites, extending posteriorly to first pair of hump-like tubercles; HT 3-4 each covered by separate dorsal sclerites. Unexpanded pedipalp (Figs 11D–F) of Type A morphology (Fig. 6), with large, retrolaterally directed, arched conductor; embolus distally directed, slightly sinuous, with short triangular spur adjacent to distal rim of conductor, embolus projecting beyond distal rim of conductor by ~1/2 length of exposed embolic portion; tegular sclerite 3 (TS 3) short, spur-like, with flattened proximal portion and sharply pointed, claw-like apex bearing second short, pointed process distally; TS 2-2a looped over retrolateral edge of conductor, TS 2 with rounded, subtriangular apex, TS 2a projecting beyond distal rim of conductor but not extending to near tip of embolus; TS 1 triangular, with tapered, slightly curved tooth-like apex. Female (ANIC): Total length 2.95; leg I femur 2.86; F1/CL ratio 2.37. Cephalothorax reddish-brown; legs pale tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige (Fig. 11A). Carapace tall (CH/CL ratio 2.04); 1.21 long, 2.46 high, 1.13 wide; ‘neck’ 0.69 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near posterior third of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.65), carapace gently sloping posterior to HPC; ‘head’ not strongly elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.23). Chelicerae without accessory setae on anterior face of paturon. Abdomen 1.64 long, 1.28 wide; with four pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1-4). Internal genitalia (Fig. 11G) with cluster of 4-6 variably-shaped spermathecae on either side of gonopore, clusters widely separated along midline of genital plate; innermost (anterior) spermathecae longest, sausage-shaped, bent laterally; other spermathecae variably sausage-shaped or pyriform, smallest anteriorly, becoming progressively larger posteriorly.

Austrarchaea tealei is known only from Mossman Gorge, 4.5 km west-south-west of Mossman (Figs 20, 25). Specimens have been collected under logs (as newly-hatched juveniles; H. Wood, pers. comm.), or by beating and sifting elevated leaf litter at the bases of lawyer vine palms (Calamus spp.) in lowland tropical rainforest.