Taxonomy

Astia has one described Australian species: Astia hariola. Species previously listed in Astia have been transferred to other genera including Adoxotoma, Arasia, Cyrba, Helpis, Maevia and Sondra. A description of Heliophanus maculatus by Karsch in 1878 and figured in Wesolowska (1986) appears to be Astia hariola, removing Heliophanus from the Australian fauna. The genus is part of an Australasian clade (Maddison et al 2008, Gardzińska and Żabka 2010, Maddison 2015 including Adoxotoma, Arasia, Astilodes, Helpis, Jacksonoides, Megaloastia, Parahelpis, Sondra and Tauala. Genera from Indonesia (Katya) and the Philippines (Orthrus) may also be part of this group (Maddison 2015). Further information on the genus and described species can be found in Richardson and Żabka (2017) and Whyte and Anderson (2017).

Description

Astia hariola is a medium-sized spider, ranging in body length from 8 to 9 mm, with a moderately high cephalothorax. The head viewed from above is rectangular to pear-shaped, widest behind the posterior lateral eyes. From the side the carapace is horizontal until the posterior lateral eyes.  The slender adult male has a cephalothorax wider than its abdomen while the female’s abdomen is wider than its cephalothorax. The chelicerae have several retromarginal teeth (plurident) and three or more teeth on the promargin. Distinctive yellow-orange markings at the rear of the abdomen in live animals fade to pale yellow or white when preserved. Males tend to be black with white and yellow-orange markings, while the females have a brownish abdomen. The legs are long and slender.

The male’s embolus has a distinctive hooked end. The tibia of the palp is as long as or longer than the cymbium. The retro-lateral tibial apophysis is short, stout, and blunt.

The female’s epigyne has two slit-like atria.  Long insemination ducts arise from the slits and extend rearwards to the spermathecae near but not directly adjacent to the epigastric fold.

Biology

Found under dark or burnt bark and on the ground in eucalypt forests and woodlands or collected in pitfall traps, sometimes locally abundant.

Distribution

Astia is known from eastern Australia in environments ranging from woodlands to wet sclerophyll forest in Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

References

Davies, V.T. & Żabka, M. 1989. Illustrated keys to the genera of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) in Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 27, 189-266.

Gardzińska, J. &. Żabka, M. 2010. A new genus and five new species of Astieae (Araneae: Salticidae) from Australia, with remarks on distribution. Zootaxa 2526, 37-53.

Hawkeswood, T.J. 2003. Spiders of Australia: An introduction to their classification, biology and distribution. Pensoft: Sofia.

Maddison, W.P. 2015. A phylogenetic classification of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). Journal of Arachnology 43, 231-292.

Maddison, W.P., Bodner, M.R. & Needham, K.M. 2008. Salticid spider phylogeny revisited, with the discovery of a large Australian clade (Araneae: Salticidae). Zootaxa 1893, 49-64.

Richardson, B.J. & Żabka, M. 2017. Salticidae. Arachnida: Araneomorphae. Canberra, Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study, at https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/SALTICIDAE.

Wanless, F.R. 1988. A revision of the spider group Astieae in the Australian Region. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 15, 81-172.

Wesolowska, W. 1986. A revision of the genus Heliophanus C.L. Koch, 1833 (Aranei: Salticidae). Annales Zoologici, Warszawa 40, 1-254.

Whyte, R. & Anderson, G. 2017. A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia. CSIRO Publishing: Clayton.

Żabka, M. & Patoleta, B.M. 2014. New species of Helpis Simon, 1901 from Australia (Araneae: Salticidae), with a new definition of the genus. Zootaxa 3873, 571–589.

* The information sheet should be interpreted in the context of the associated diagrams and photographs. Diagrams explaining anatomical terms can be found in the ‘Salticidae’ pictures at the beginning of the list of genera.