Austrarchaea aleenae Rix & Harvey 2011

Austrarchaea aleenae is a species of spider in the family Archaeidae. It is endemic to south-east Queensland, Australia where it may be found in the Bulburin National Park and Kalpowar State Forest.

Holotype male: Total length 3.10; leg I femur 3.05; F1/CL ratio 2.77. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige, palest behind hump-like tubercles, with darker reddish-brown dorsal scute and sclerites (Fig. 17B). Carapace very tall (CH/CL ratio 2.38); 1.10 long, 2.63 high, 1.03 wide; ‘neck’ 0.56 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 0.68), carapace gently sloping and almost horizontal anterior and posterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated postero-dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.34) (Fig. 8B). Chelicerae with dense tuft of accessory setae on anterior face of paturon (Fig. 17C). Abdomen 1.67 long, 1.23 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 17D-F) with broad, distally-directed foliate conductor; tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1) spiniform, widest across middle, obscured by conductor in retrolateral view; TS 2 thin, spiniform, longer than TS 1; TS 2a sinuous, largely obscured by TS 2; TS 3 very large, porrect, with broadly-pointed rectangular apex projecting well beyond retro-distal rim of tegulum. Allotype female: Total length 3.62; leg I femur 3.17; F1/CL ratio 2.40. Cephalothorax tan-brown; legs pale tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige (Figs 5G, 17A). Carapace very tall (CH/CL ratio 2.25); 1.32 long, 2.97 high, 1.18 wide; ‘neck’ 0.62 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 0.64), carapace gently sloping posterior to HPC; ‘head’ moderately elevated postero-dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.33) (Fig. 7B). Chelicerae without accessory setae on anterior face of paturon. Abdomen 1.85 long, 1.28 wide; with three pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1–6) (Fig. 5G). Internal genitalia with dense cluster of ≤ 15 variably shaped spermathecae on either side of gonopore, clusters meeting near midline of genital plate (Fig. 17G); innermost (anterior) spermathecae longest, sausage-shaped, curved antero-laterally; outermost (posterior) spermathecae bulbous; other spermathecae variably pyriform, straight, directed antero-laterally. Variation: Males (n=3): total length 2.82–3.10; carapace length 1.03–1.10; carapace height 2.35–2.63; CH/CL ratio 2.27–2.44. Females (n=4): total length 3.13–3.62; carapace length 1.26–1.32; carapace height 2.82–2.97; CH/CL ratio 2.25–2.26.

Austrarchaea aleenae is known only from rainforest habitats in the Kalpowar-Builyan region of south-eastern Queensland, in the Bulburin National Park and nearby Kalpowar State Forest (Fig. 35).