''Dorymetaecus'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of Australian

araneomorph The Araneomorphae (also called the Labidognatha) are an infraorder of spiders. They are distinguishable by chelicerae (fangs) that point diagonally forward and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae (tarantulas and their cl ...

spiders in the family

Phrurolithidae Phrurolithidae is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Nathan Banks in 1892. First included in the Corinnidae as the subfamily Phrurolithinae, later phylogenetic studies justified a separate family. Genera , the World Spider Catal ...

, containing the single species, ''Dorymetaecus spinnipes''. It was first described by

William Joseph Rainbow William Joseph Rainbow (1856–1919) was an entomologist and arachnologist whose work includes the first catalogue of Australian spiders. Life Rainbow was born in 1856 in Yorkshire, England. His father was a Warrant Officer in the Royal Marines ...

in 1920, and has only been found on

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland ...

. Rainbow died in November 1919, shortly before publication of the work this species is described in.

Description

The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

was found on Kentia palms, and only the female of this species is known. Its

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''ceph ...

is long and wide. The

opisthosoma The opisthosoma is the posterior part of the body in some arthropods, behind the prosoma ( cephalothorax). It is a distinctive feature of the subphylum Chelicerata (arachnids, horseshoe crabs and others). Although it is similar in most respects ...

is long and wide. Cephalothorax obovate, broad, well arched, yellow, with two dark-brown wavy lines behind the eyes, and with black lateral margins, close to which are smoky-brown patches. Pars cephalica not raised, sloping gently forward, narrow in front, truncated, segmental groove faintly distinct; clypeus narrow. Pars thoracica sloping rearwards, radial grooves moderately defined; median stria short, distinct, lateral margins slightly reflexed; marginal band narrow. Eyes in two recurved rows of four each, close together, rear median ones widest apart; front row shorter, close to edge of clypeus; posterior eyes larger. Legs yellow, long, robust, bespined; first and second pairs longest and strongest; tibia i and ii armed with seven pairs of long, strong yellow spines, and meta-tarsi of same with four pairs; bases of spines large, black; spines on legs iii and iv short and weak. Relative lengths, 4, 1, 2, 3. Palpi concolorous, moderately long, armed with a few rather long spines. Falces yellow, short, arched, not strong; inferior ridge of each falx armed with two very small teeth, and the superior with two even smaller ones; fang short, weak. Maxillae short, robust, arched, yellow, apices inclined inwards, constricted near base. Labium concolorous, arched, short, broad, about as long as width of base; apex rounded. Sternum cordate, broad, yellow, arched, terminating obtusely between fourth pair of coxae. Abdomen ovate, arched, slightly overhanging base of cephalothorax, yellow; superior surface ornamented with smoky-brown markings. Epigynum a moderately large plaque, the margin of which is dark brown and raised. Spinnerets yellow, short; superior pair cylindrical, biarticulate, terminal segment shortest; inferior pair rather stout; coniform, biarticulate, apical segment minute, dome-shaped.

References

Monotypic Araneomorphae genera Phrurolithidae Spiders of Australia Taxa named by William Joseph Rainbow {{Araneomorphae-stub