A new species of Endangered giant trapdoor spider (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae: Euoplos) from the Brigalow Belt of inland Queensland, Australia
2023; American Arachnological Society; Volume: 51; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1636/joa-s-21-056
ISSN1937-2396
AutoresMichael G. Rix, Jeremy D. Wilson, Paul M. Oliver,
Tópico(s)Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy
ResumoA new species of giant trapdoor spider, Euoplos dignitas sp. nov. (family Idiopidae), is described from the Brigalow Belt of inland Queensland, Australia. Phylogenetic analysis of a six gene molecular dataset for the tribe Euoplini reveals that this species is sister to the spinnipes-group from eastern Queensland, and unrelated to a morphologically similar congener (E. grandis Wilson & Rix, 2019) that occurs further south in the Brigalow Belt. Both E. dignitas sp. nov. and E. grandis are very large, scopulate, plug door-building trapdoor spiders from transitional woodland habitats on vertosols (‘black soils’), with superficially similar females and strongly sexually-dimorphic ‘honey-red’ males. Information on the known biology and distribution of E. dignitas sp. nov. is summarized, and a conservation assessment is provided under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List Criteria, indicating that this species is likely Endangered.
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