Synotaxids  -  Family:  Synotaxidae

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      The spiders of the Family: Synotaxidae are usually found in Central and South America, southern North America and the Far East.    The family was first described by Eugene Simon in 1895.  It currently consists of 5 genera containing 34 species of tiny to small spiders.

      These spiders come in various shapes and colours.  e.g. Some Tekellina species are short, stout and brightly coloured whereas as some Synotaxus species are long and skinny and their colour blends in well with the underside of the foliage they live on.

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      Synotaxidae are not endemic to Australia but in June '23 an observation was listed on iNaturalist by (insert name) and the photos accompanying the observation, from an area near Mount Warning, shows a very small dark yellow spider with a somewhat triangular cephalothorax and a bulbous abdomen, wider than long.  This little spider was identified as belonging to the genus: Tekellina by (insert name) himself and corroborated by one of iNaturalist's curators.   This record is the first time a spider from this family was seen in Australia. 

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      Tekellina sp.

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Taxonomy:
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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:   Synotaxidae   (Synotaxids)
 ​                                                                                                           > Genus:   Tekellina 
                                                                                                                        > Species:   ?

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References  and  links:
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>      Ramírez, M.J.,  Magalhaes, I.L.F.,  Pizarro-Araya, J.,  Ballarin, F.,  Marusik, Y.M.  and  Eskov, K.Y.,  (2022).   'A new species of the spider genus Tekellina Levi, 1957 from Chile, with a broadened definition of the family Synotaxidae (Arachnida, Araneae).'   Zoologischer Anzeiger 301: 76-90. doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2022.08.005 

       https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations/181702747
       https://wsc.nmbe.ch/genlist/95/Synotaxidae
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Photographic   contributions:

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