''Aname'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

mygalomorph The Mygalomorphae, or mygalomorphs, are an infraorder of spiders, and comprise one of three major groups of living spiders with over 3,000 species, found on all continents except Antarctica. Many members are known as trapdoor spiders due to t ...

spiders. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The spiders, as well as some in closely related genera, are also known as wishbone spiders. It was first described by Ludwig Koch in 1873.

Diagnosis

''Aname'' species may be distinguished from other genera in the family by the presence of a prominent asetose ventral depression on the male

pedipalp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among Chelicerata, chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to ...

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

Distribution and habitat

While ''Aname'' prefers dry open country and occurs throughout much of

(though mostly inland), ''

Chenistonia ''Chenistonia'' is a genus of spiders in the family Anamidae. It was first described in 1901 by Henry Roughton Hogg. , it contains 8 species, all from Australia. Species ''Chenistonia'' comprises 8 species: *''Chenistonia boranup'' Main, 2012 ...

'' occurs mostly in

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, and ''

Namea ''Namea'' is a genus of spiders in the family Anamidae. It is endemic to Australia. It was erected in 1984 by Australian arachnologist Robert Raven Robert John Raven is an Australian arachnologist, being the Head of Terrestrial Biodiversit ...

'' is only known along the east coast in

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s. The lesser wishbone spider ('' Aname distincta'') occurs through the lowland open forests of south-east

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

's Moreton Valley as far north as Eidsvold and

Gayndah Gayndah () is a town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre for the North Burnett Region. In the , the locality of Gayndah had a population of 1,949 p ...

, and the greater wishbone spider ('' Aname pallida'') from Gladstone along dry coastal corridors to

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

. One species ('' Aname tasmanica'') is found only in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Behaviour

Spiders in this genus, together with the very similar genera ''

'' and ''

'', are called "

wishbone Wishbone commonly refers to the furcula, a fork-shaped bone in birds and some dinosaurs Wishbone, Wish bone or Wish Bone may also refer to: * Wish-Bone, an American salad dressing and condiment brand * Wishbone formation, a type of offense in Ame ...

spiders", for the shape of their open

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

-lined burrow, which has the shape of the letter "Y", with one arm shorter than the other. Only the longer arm reaches the surface. The shorter arm is believed to allow the spider to survive flooding by trapping an air bubble.

Interactions with humans

Bites from ''Aname'' are rare, but females of '' Aname inimica'' (which are also considered "unfriendly" by

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

) are reported to have bitten several people, resulting in local pain, redness and soreness.

Species

, the ''

World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...

'' accepts 53 species: * '' A. aragog'' Harvey, Framenau, Wojcieszek, Rix & Harvey, 2012 — WA * '' A. atra'' (Strand, 1913) — SA * '' A. aurea'' Rainbow & Pulleine, 1918 — NSW * '' A. baileyorum'' Castalanelli, Framenau, Huey, Hillyer & Harvey, 2020 — WA * '' A. barrema'' Raven, 1985 — QLD * '' A. blackdownensis'' Raven, 1985 — QLD * '' A. camara'' Raven, 1985 — QLD * '' A. carina'' Raven, 1985 — QLD * '' A. coenosa'' Rainbow & Pulleine, 1918 — SA * '' A. collinsorum'' Raven, 1985 — QLD * '' A. comosa'' Rainbow & Pulleine, 1918 — SA * '' A. distincta'' (Rainbow, 1914) — QLD * '' A. diversicolor'' (Hogg, 1902) — SA, WA * '' A. elegans'' (Harvey, Wilson & Rix, 2022) — SA * '' A. ellenae'' Harvey, Framenau, Wojcieszek, Rix & Harvey, 2012 — WA * '' A. exulans'' Harvey & Huey, 2020 — WA * '' A. frostorum'' Castalanelli, Framenau, Huey, Hillyer & Harvey, 2020 — WA * '' A. fuscocincta'' Rainbow & Pulleine, 1918 — WA * '' A. grandis'' Rainbow & Pulleine, 1918 — SA * '' A. grothi'' Castalanelli, Framenau, Huey, Hillyer & Harvey, 2020 — WA * '' A. hirsuta'' Rainbow & Pulleine, 1918 — SA * '' A. humptydoo'' Raven, 1985 — NT * '' A. inimica'' Raven, 1985 — NSW, QLD * '' A. kirrama'' Raven, 1984 — QLD * '' A. lillianae'' Harvey & Huey, 2020 — WA * '' A. longitheca'' Raven, 1985 — QLD * '' A. lorica'' Castalanelli, Framenau, Huey, Hillyer & Harvey, 2020 — WA * '' A. maculata'' (Rainbow & Pulleine, 1918) — WA * '' A. mainae'' Raven, 2000 — SA * '' A. marae'' Harvey, Framenau, Wojcieszek, Rix & Harvey, 2012 — WA * '' A. mcalpinei'' Castalanelli, Framenau, Huey, Hillyer & Harvey, 2020 — WA * '' A. mccleeryorum'' Harvey & Huey, 2020 — WA * '' A. mellosa'' Harvey, Framenau, Wojcieszek, Rix & Harvey, 2012 — WA * '' A. munyardae'' Castalanelli, Framenau, Huey, Hillyer & Harvey, 2020 — WA * '' A. ningaloo'' Wilson, Rix & Harvey, 2023 — WA * '' A. nitidimarina'' Castalanelli, Framenau, Huey, Hillyer & Harvey, 2020 — WA * '' A. pallida'' L. Koch, 1873 (

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

) — QLD * '' A. phillipae'' Harvey & Huey, 2020 — WA * '' A. platypus'' (L. Koch, 1875) * '' A. pulchella'' (Harvey, Wilson & Rix, 2022) — WA * '' A. robertsorum'' Raven, 1985 — QLD * '' A. salina'' Wilson, Rix & Harvey, 2023 — WA * '' A. simoneae'' Harvey & Huey, 2020 — WA * '' A. sinuata'' Castalanelli, Framenau, Huey, Hillyer & Harvey, 2020 — WA * '' A. tasmanica'' Hogg, 1902 — TAS * '' A. tatarnici'' Wilson, Rix & Harvey, 2023 — SA * '' A. tenuipes'' Wilson, Rix & Harvey, 2023 — WA * '' A. tigrina'' Raven, 1985 — QLD * '' A. vernonorum'' Castalanelli, Framenau, Huey, Hillyer & Harvey, 2020 — WA * '' A. warialda'' Raven, 1985 — NSW, QLD * '' A. watsoni'' Castalanelli, Framenau, Huey, Hillyer & Harvey, 2020 — WA * '' A. whitei'' Castalanelli, Framenau, Huey, Hillyer & Harvey, 2020 — WA * '' A. wongalara'' Wilson, Rix & Harvey, 2023 — NT

References

Spiders of Australia Mygalomorphae genera Taxa named by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch {{Anamidae-stub