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.

Austrarchaea aleenae est une espèce d'araignées aranéomorphes de la famille des Archaeidae.

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).