Hair-spike Synotaxids - Family: Physoglenidae
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Spiders of the Genus: Physoglenes were first discovered in Chile. The French naturalist, Eugene Simon, first described the genus in 1904 and he placed it in the Family: Leptonetidae. In 1928 Alexander Petrunkovitch raised the genus to subfamily and placed it in the Family: Pholcidae. There it remained until 1990 when Forster et al expanded the subfamily with three new genera and placed it in the Family: Synotaxidae. Dimitrov et al in 2017 in turn elevated the subfamily to the rank of family within the Superfamily: Araneoidea. At the same time various genera from other (sub)families were relocated to Physoglenidae to arrive at is current complement of 13 genera containing 72 species.
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The Physoglenidae are small to very small spiders with long legs. Due to a lack of sightings not a lot is known of their habits however there does appear to be similarity in web architecture among the species that make up this taxon. Most webs produced appear to no more than a tangled three-dimensional maze of silk lines anchored between foliage and/or forest debris. Most Physoglenids are found in South America (mainly in Chile) and New Zealand. Sightings of the few Physoglenids native to Australia are rare and, the Northern Rivers has no records to date although, one species has been found only just accross the border in Lamington N.P. and it is quite likely to be found here as well.
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Calcarsynotaxus longipes (likely occurrence)
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Taxonomy:
Phylum: Arthropoda (Arthropods)
> Subphylum: Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
> Class: Arachnida (Arachnids)
> Order: Aranea (Spiders)
> Suborder: Araneomorphae (Typical Spiders)
> Infraorder: Entelegynea (Entelegyne Spiders)
> Superfamily: Araneoidea (Araneoid Spiders)
> Family: Physoglenidae (Hair-spike Synotaxids)
> Genus: Calcarsynotaxus
> Species: C. longipes *
* = likely
References and links:
> Dimitrov, D., Benavides, L.R., Arnedo, M.A., Giribet, G., Griswold, C.E., Scharff, N. and Hormiga, G., (2017). 'Rounding up the usual suspects: a standard target-gene approach for resolving the interfamilial phylogenetic relationships of ecribellate orb-weaving spiders with a new family-rank classification (Araneae, Araneoidea).' Cladistics 33(3): 221-250 & Suppl. doi:10.1111/cla.12165
> Forster, R.R., Platnick, N.I. and Coddington, J., (1990). 'A proposal and review of the spider family Synotaxidae (Araneae, Araneoidea), with notes on theridiid interrelationships.' Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 193: 1-116.
> Petrunkevitch, A., (1928). 'Systema Aranearum.' Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences 29: 1-270.
> Simon, E., (1904). 'Etude sur les arachnides du Chili recueillis en 1900, 1901 et 1902, par MM. C. Porter, Dr Delfin, Barcey Wilson et Edwards.' Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 48: 83-114.
> Wunderlich, J., (1995). 'Description of the new genus Calcarsynotaxus from Australia (Arachnida: Araneae: Synotaxidae).' Beiträge zur Araneologie 4(1994): 539-542.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Petrunkevitch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Simon
> Dimitrov, D., Benavides, L.R., Arnedo, M.A., Giribet, G., Griswold, C.E., Scharff, N. and Hormiga, G., (2017). 'Rounding up the usual suspects: a standard target-gene approach for resolving the interfamilial phylogenetic relationships of ecribellate orb-weaving spiders with a new family-rank classification (Araneae, Araneoidea).' Cladistics 33(3): 221-250 & Suppl. doi:10.1111/cla.12165
> Forster, R.R., Platnick, N.I. and Coddington, J., (1990). 'A proposal and review of the spider family Synotaxidae (Araneae, Araneoidea), with notes on theridiid interrelationships.' Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 193: 1-116.
> Petrunkevitch, A., (1928). 'Systema Aranearum.' Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences 29: 1-270.
> Simon, E., (1904). 'Etude sur les arachnides du Chili recueillis en 1900, 1901 et 1902, par MM. C. Porter, Dr Delfin, Barcey Wilson et Edwards.' Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 48: 83-114.
> Wunderlich, J., (1995). 'Description of the new genus Calcarsynotaxus from Australia (Arachnida: Araneae: Synotaxidae).' Beiträge zur Araneologie 4(1994): 539-542.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Petrunkevitch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Simon
Photographic contributions: