Taxonomy

Paraphilaeus has only one Australian species, P. daemelii which is part of an Australasian clade (Maddison et al 2008) including Abracadabrella, Apricia, Clynotis, Holoplatys, Huntiglennia, Ocrisiona, Opisthoncus, Paraplatoides, Pungalina, Tara, Trite and Zebraplatys (Maddison 2015).  Further information on the genus and described species can be found in Richardson and Żabka (2017) and Whyte and Anderson (2017).

Description

Paraphilaeus daemelii is a medium-sized spider, ranging in body length from 4 to 6 mm. The head, viewed from above, is rather roundish, widest behind the posterior lateral eyes with a thick fringe above the anterior median eyes in the male. The carapace is high, with a gently-curved upper surface. The chelicerae have a single (unident), stout, sharp retromarginal tooth with two smaller teeth on the promargin. The abdomen is elongate-ovate, narrowing towards the rear. The first pair of legs is longer than the others but not massive in build.

The male’s palp has a very elongate cymbium projecting well beyond the tegulum, its distal half distinctly curved. The embolus is long and narrow, passing across the ventral surface of the tegulum and along the edge of the cymbium in a wide arc, ending up on the dorsal side of the cymbium near the tip. The tegulum is roundish-convoluted in shape. The palpal tibia has a single, short, blunt retro-lateral tibial apophysis.

The female has two large, poorly-sclerotised epigynal atria. The spermathecae are convoluted, multichambered and end in swollen bulbs near the epigastric fold.

Biology

Found on shrub and tree foliage from woodlands to rainforest.

Distribution

Paraphilaeus daemelii occurs widely across eastern parts of Queensland and New South Wales.

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 (as ‘Trite’ daemelii).

Richardson, B.J. & Żabka, M. 2016. Salticidae. Arachnida: Araneomorphae. Canberra, Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study, at https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/SALTICIDAE.

Żabka, M. 2003. Salticidae (Arachnida: Araneae) from Oriental, Australian and Pacific regions, XVII. Paraphilaeus, a new genus from Australia. Annales Zoologici, Warszawa 53, 723-727.

Whyte, R. and Anderson, G. 2017. A field guide to the spiders of Australia. Clayton: CSIRO Publishing.

* 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.