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wall crab spider

Karaops australiensis sp.

Photo by JordiPrats
Published on Project Noah
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-31.72, 116.11

Field Notes

Description:

A small-medium spider, eight-eyed, pail brown in color with dark bands, smoothly furry body, abdomen dorso-ventrally flattened and elongated.
Karaops has a row of six eyes in a forward-facing curve, plus two more posterior eyes.

Habitat:

Spotted inside house, the area is known for the vineyards, Is the most diverse genus in Australia and can be commonly found on walls, under bark or rocks.
under bark in vine scrubs and other habitats in the Bowen regional, also recorded in southern Cape York Peninsula. For a long time this was the only official Australian selenopid.

Notes:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Selenopidae
Genus: Karaops

Reference Links:

Selenopidae - Wikipedia, Karaops australiensis (L. Koch, 1875) Bowen-region Flattie

Species ID Suggestions

Carpet Wolf Spider

Tapetosa darwinii

Reference Link
Neil Ross
2

Comments (9)
Neil Ross
That's very interesting. This also has a good image gallery. I read on one of them that these spiders are known as "flatties". Live and learn. I'm sure the spider people know their spiders, so that's definitely the way to go. https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:062204ef-fd5a-4b31-80ad-fb91e983ab62#overview
JordiPrats
Check this (Arachne.org.au), I compared both (Selenopidae and Lycosidae) and I feel quite confident now: http://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=2563
Neil Ross
I guess it's possible if it occurs around Perth. Were they able to provide any more info? Perhaps it's something like this - https://www.flickr.com/photos/myrmician/3627697787
JordiPrats
Will try to find out, but after post the pic in the Asian Society of Arachnology I have been advised that this is Selenopidae, not Lycosidae.
Neil Ross
Well done, Jordi. Good article on a relatively new species. I read what I could, but seriously, some of the language they use is beyond me.
JordiPrats
I found this document about Tapetosa darwinii on Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256846570_Tapetosa_a_new_monotypic_wolf_spider_genus_from_Western_Australia_Araneae_Lycosidae_Lycosinae
Neil Ross
Awesome spotting, Jordi. I've made an ID suggestion for you, but there doesn't seem to be much online regarding this species other than sites like Flickr, etc. Anyway, a step in the right direction. That aside, this spotting is definitely a wolf spider.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
International Spider Survey
Photographed
PublishedJune 8, 2019

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