Austrarchaea cunninghami Rix & Harvey 2011

Austrarchaea cunninghami is a species of spider in the family Archaeidae. It is endemic to Australia.

Holotype male: Total length 2.82; leg I femur 3.01; F1/CL ratio 2.70. Cephalothorax dark reddish-brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige, with darker brown dorsal scute and sclerites (Fig. 12B). Carapace very tall (CH/CL ratio 2.21); 1.12 long, 2.46 high, 1.05 wide; ‘neck’ 0.56 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near middle of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.60), carapace gently sloping posterior to HPC; ‘head’ not strongly elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.27) (Fig. 8G). Chelicerae with brush of accessory setae on anterior face of paturon (Fig. 12C). Abdomen 1.46 long, 0.97 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 12D-F) with broad, foliate conductor, strongly curved laterally with triangular, evenly-tapered apex; tegular sclerite 1 (TS 1) relatively short, with rectangular base and sharply-tapered apex, obscured by conductor in retrolateral view; TS 2 spur-like, longer than TS 1; TS 2a sinuous, filiform, exposed distally; TS 3 embedded proximally within distal haematodocha, with sharply-pointed apex projecting beyond retro-distal rim of tegulum. Allotype female: Total length 3.54; leg I femur 3.24; F1/CL ratio 2.30. Cephalothorax brown; legs tan-brown with darker annulations; abdomen mottled grey-brown and beige (Fig. 12A). Carapace tall (CH/CL ratio 2.20); 1.41 long, 3.10 high, 1.28 wide; ‘neck’ 0.76 wide; bearing two pairs of rudimentary horns; highest point of pars cephalica (HPC) near middle of ‘head’ (ratio of HPC to post-ocular length 0.57), carapace gently sloping posterior to HPC; ‘head’ not strongly elevated dorsally (post-ocular ratio 0.23) (Fig. 7G). Chelicerae without accessory setae on anterior face of paturon. Abdomen 1.90 long, 1.41 wide; with three pairs of dorsal hump-like tubercles (HT 1–6). Internal genitalia with cluster of ≤ 10 variably shaped spermathecae on either side of gonopore, clusters marginally separated near midline of genital plate (Fig. 12G); innermost (anterior) spermathecae longest, sausage-shaped, bent laterally; other spermathecae variably pyriform, curved, directed laterally. Variation: Females (n=2): total length 3.44–3.54; carapace length 1.38–1.41; carapace height 2.97–3.10; CH/CL ratio 2.15–2.20.

Austrarchaea cunninghami is known only from rainforest habitats in the Main Range National Park of extreme south-eastern Queensland (Fig. 30).