Australian Dewdrop Spider Argyrodes antipodianus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1880
Fauna Portal species: 9269
Argyrodes antipodianus male, lateral (WAM T57794; Barrow Island, Western Australia)
Image: V.W. Framenau (2025)
Fauna Portal Image No. 10279Diagnosis
(after Grostal 1999): Abdominal colour (bright silver), combined with morphologies of male pedipalp, male carapace and epigyne separate A. antipodianus from other sympatric species. Pedipalp cymbium conspicuously bi-lobed, base of embolus with two pointed projections, extension of median apophysis narrow and concave distally. Lateral eyes of males below base of cephalic projection (character shared by A. miniaceus), but clypeal projection club-shaped and with pectinate setae contrasting with remaining species (including A. miniaceus). Epigynal fossae conspicuous, circular and (unlike remaining species) separated by about twice their diameter. Unlike for A. rainbowi, A. fissifrons or A. kulczynskii, insemination duct is short and slightly curved. Argyrodes argentatus Pickard-Cambridge, 1880 closely resembles A. antipodianus in size, shape and colour, but differs in shape of the male carapace. The cephalic projection of A. argentatus (lectotype, East Indies) curves downward and touches (or almost touches) clypeal projection distally, but cephalic projection of A. antipodianus is approximately straight and conspicuously separated from clypeal projection.
Status
- native
Linnean Type
Syntypes: females, juveniles, Sydney, Australia; New Zealand (after Grostal 1999).
Australia
- Australian Capital Territory
- New South Wales
- Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands
- Northern Territory
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- Victoria
- Western Australia
Neighbouring Countries
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
Fauna Portal Records
The map shows all records that have been verified as part of the Fauna Portal project and may not represent the true distribution of a species. Specifically, for described species, check the link to the Atlas of Living Australia on this page for potential wider distributions. Fauna Portal Reference specimens and Linnean types are shown in red. If you identified a specimen that exceeds the distribution of an undescribed species as illustrated here, please contact the Fauna Portal team who can assist with the lodgement of the specimen in a public institution and display on the map.
Publications
(1999): Five species of kleptobiotic Argyrodes Simon (Theridiidae: Araneae) from eastern Australia: descriptions and ecology with special reference to southeastern Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 43: 621 - 638