Rayforstia raveni Rix & Harvey, sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: B43D3782-5F0C-4776-940B-E9C4B19C01ED

Figs 90 –91

Type material. Holotype male: Boondall Wetlands, Queensland, Australia, Melaleuca woodland, 5–10 m, pitfall, 27°20'21"S, 153°04'27"E, 29.VII.-2.IX.2003, QM Party (QMB S83999).

Paratypes: 14 males, same data as holotype (QMB S62272).

Other material examined. AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Boondall Wetlands, Melaleuca woodland, 5–10 m, pitfall, 27°20'21"S, 153°04'27"E, 1–29. VII.2003, QM Party, 4♁ (QMB S62956) ; same data except 2.IX.-2.X.2003, 11♁ (QMB S62831); same data except 31.X.-2.XII.2003, 3♁ (QMB S65553); same data except 2.XII.2003 – 2.I.2004, 3♁ (QMB S65554); same data except 22.IV.-26.V.2003, 2♁ (QMB S65552); Gold Creek Reservoir, pitfall trap, 140 m, open forest, 27°27'53"S, 152°52'32"E, 31.III.-30.IV.2004, QM Party, 1♁ (QMB S65224) ; same data except spotted gum open forest, 1–30.X.2003, 1♁ (QMB S65160) .

Etymology. The specific epithet is a patronym in honour of Robert J. Raven of the Queensland Museum (Brisbane), for his enormous contribution to describing the spiders of south-eastern Queensland, and for managing the arachnological collections made during the Queensland Museum’s ‘Brisbane City Council Terrestrial Invertebrate Status Review’ (TISR). All of the known specimens of R. raveni were collected as part of the TISR in 2003/04.

Diagnosis. Males of Rayforstia raveni can be distinguished from all other described congeners except R. lordhowensis by the absence of a dorsal scute (Fig. 90A); and from R. lordhowensis by the longer embolus and asymmetric, curved conductor (Fig. 91). Females are unknown.

Description. Holotype male: Total length 0.84. Carapace 0.41 long, 0.31 wide. Abdomen 0.45 long, 0.30 wide. Leg I femur 0.31. Cephalothorax, legs tan-yellow; abdomen olive-cream. Carapace raised anteriorly, not fused to sternum except around petiole; dorsal surface of pars cephalica slightly convex in lateral view. Eight eyes present on anterior margin of pars cephalica; AME 0.5x diameter of ALE; PME separated by half their own diameter. Chelicerae each with bulging anterior projection; promargin with three peg teeth. Legs relatively short (leg I femur-carapace ratio 0.76); macrosetae absent. Abdomen oval, covered with hair-like setae; dorsal scute and lateral sclerotic strips absent. Pedipalpal patella with retrolaterally-directed, hooked lRPA and rounded, depressed distal region with ornate, ridged cuticular microstructure; tegulum smooth, with excavate ETR and curved, subtriangular distal conductor; embolus long (length> 5× width), looping dorsal to conductor (Fig. 91).

Distribution. Known only from south-eastern Queensland.

Remarks. Rayforstia raveni is the only species of Raveniella currently described from the Australian mainland, although other undescribed species are known from eastern Australia, and R. lordhowensis from Lord Howe Island seems closely related.