Austrophaea

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Austrophaea
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Corinnidae
Genus: Austrophaea
Lawrence, 1952 [1]
Species:
A. zebra
Binomial name
Austrophaea zebra
Lawrence, 1952
Synonyms
  • Austrophaea festivaLawrence, 1952 [2]

Austrophaea is a monotypic genus of African corinnid sac spiders containing the single species, Austrophaea zebra. It was first described by R. F. Lawrence in 1952, [3] and has only been found in South Africa.

Contents

Distribution

Austrophaea zebra is endemic to South Africa and is known from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces at altitudes ranging from 47 to 696 m above sea level. [4]

Habitat and ecology

The species is known only from low-lying grasslands, savanna and coastal forests in the eastern parts of South Africa. Austrophaea zebra is exclusively ground-dwelling and has been collected from leaf litter between grasses in the ecotone between coastal forests and adjacent grassland. The species has been sampled from the Thicket, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt and Savanna biomes. [4]

Description

Austrophaea zebra can be easily recognized by its very robust anterior legs, particularly the tibiae and metatarsi, which are enlarged, broad, and very strongly spined ventrally. The carapace is somewhat flattened with a median black longitudinal stripe, and the opisthosoma bears a black median stripe and 5–7 posterior transverse chevron markings.

The carapace is slightly convex and somewhat flattened, pale cream-yellow to deep yellow-orange, with a broad median dark brown mottled stripe extending from the anterior eye row to the posterior margin of the carapace. Dark brown spots are present laterally at the bases of coxae II, III and IV. All eyes have black rings.

The abdomen is oval-elongate, with a narrow brown dorsal scutum extending to two-thirds, and a black median stripe dividing into several transverse chevron markings posteriorly. Leg I is robust, with yellow femora, patellae and tarsi, and black tibiae and metatarsi. The remaining legs are shorter, cream-colored, with black bands. [4]

Conservation

Austrophaea zebra is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographic range. The species is threatened by loss of habitat for crop farming and infrastructure development but has been recorded from several protected areas. [4]

Taxonomy

Austrophaea zebra was described by Reginald Lawrence in 1952 from Tongaat in KwaZulu-Natal. It is the type species of the monotypic genus Austrophaea, which is endemic to South Africa. The species was revised by Haddad in 2007, who synonymized Austrophaea festiva with A. zebra. [2] [4]

References

  1. ↑ "Austrophaea zebra Lawrence, 1952". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  2. 1 2 Haddad, C. R. (2007). "A revision of the endemic South African dark sac spider genus Austrophaea (Araneae: Corinnidae)". African Invertebrates. 48: 49.
  3. ↑ Lawrence, R.F. (1952). "New spiders from the eastern half of South Africa". Annals of the Natal Museum. 12: 183–226.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Haddad, C.R.; Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2023). The Corinnidae of South Africa. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 11. doi:10.5281/zenodo.8300753. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.


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