top of page
2021
Description: In this study we revised a morphologically conserved species-group of the trapdoor spider genus Euoplos, from eastern Australia. We demonstrated a conservative and transparent approach to species delimitation, whereby only species that meet a set of integrative criteria are described, and remaining undescribed diversity is explicitly stated and mapped to aid future researchers. This paper includes morphological descriptions of 5 new species and redescriptions of three other species, all from south-eastern Queensland.
Article: Wilson, JD & Rix, MG. (2021). Systematics of the golden trapdoor spiders of the Euoplos variabilis-group (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae: Euoplini): parapatry and sympatry between closely related species in subtropical Queensland. Invertebrate Systematics 35: 514 - 541.
Description: This is a monographic revision of the recently described idiopid genus Cryptoforis, from eastern Australia. Spiders in this genus make cryptic burrows with trapdoors made of leaf and humus fragments. We describe 15 new species in the genus, and include information on the behaviour and distribution of all 18 known species.
Article: Wilson, JD, Rix, MG, Schmidt, DJ, Hughes, JM & Raven, RJ. (2021). Systematics of the spiny trapdoor spider genus Cryptoforis (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae: Euoplini): documenting an enigmatic lineage from the eastern Australian mesic zone. Journal of Arachnology 49: 28–90.
Description: In this study we performed largest phylogenetic analysis conducted on an Australian arachnid genus, with a continent-wide sample of the mygalomorph genus Aname. The study revealed the ancestral origin of the genus in the Pilbara bioregion of north-western Australia, and complex patterns of Tertiary arid-zone incursion from mesic tropical, temperate and eastern biomes, explaining the incredible diversity of Aname species (mostly undescribed) now found in arid Australia.
Article: Rix, MG, Wilson, JD, Huey, JA, Hillyer, MJ, Gruber, K & Harvey, MS. (2021). Diversification of the mygalomorph genus Aname (Ananeae: Anamidae) across the Australian arid zone: tracing the evolution and biogeography of a continent-wide radiation. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 160: 107127.
Description: In this study we utilised landmark-based geometric morphometrics to clarify species boundaries in a species-group of ghost spiders (Anyphaenidae) from South America. We discovered that the widespread species Sanogasta maculatipes actually consists of two cryptic species which occur sympatrically in the grasslands of Argentina. Furthermore, in one of these species, the shape of the female genitalia changes gradually on a longitudinal axis, leading to specimens from the east and west possessing markedly different genitalia despite being virtually identical genetically.
Article: Wilson, JD, Zapata, LV, Barone, ML, Cotoras, DD, Poy, D & Ramírez, MJ. (2021). Geometric morphometrics reveal sister species in sympatry and a cline in genital morphology in a ghost spider genus. Zoologica Scripta 500: 485–499.
2020
Description: In the article we highlighted the D’Aguilar Range of south-eastern Queensland as a hotspot for mygalomorph spider diversity, and revised the fauna in the genus Namea from the region. We describe four new species.
Article: Rix, MG, Wilson, JD & Harvey, MS. (2020). The open-holed trapdoor spiders (Mygalomorphae: Anamidae: Namea) of Australia’s D’Aguilar Range: revealing an unexpected subtropical hotspot of rainforest diversity. Zootaxa 4861: 71–91.
Description: In this study we performed the first phylogenetic analysis of the anamid genus Namea. The results revealed a pattern of simultaneous allopatric speciation in several old evolutionary lineages in the genus that have overlapping ranges. This pattern is proposed as an explanation for the exceptional diversity seen in many mygalomorph genera in the eastern Australian mesic zone. We also re-described and illustrated all 15 currently described species, highlighted the undescribed diversity that exists, and demonstrated the taxonomic utility of leg I morphology in the genus.
Article: Rix, MG, Wilson, JD & Harvey, MS. (2020). First phylogenetic assessment and taxonomic synopsis of the open-holed trapdoor spider genus Namea (Mygalomorphae: Anamidae): a highly diverse mygalomorph lineage from Australia’s tropical eastern rainforests. Invertebrate Systematics 34: 679–726.
Description: Here we performed the first total-evidence cladistic analysis of an Australian mygalomorph spider group on the idiopid tribe Euoplini. By doing this we provided a blueprint for phylogenetic studies of a undocumented fauna. We revealed the phylogenetic position of all known species (described and undescribed) in the idiopid tribe, and characterized the morphology of all major species-groups to facilitate taxonomy in the future. We also recognised and described a new genus in the tribe, Cryptoforis, meaning 'cryptic door', because spiders in the genus make camouflaged trapdoors out of leaf fragments.
Article: Wilson, JD, Raven, RJ, Schmidt, DJ, Hughes, JM & Rix, MG. (2020). Total-evidence analysis of an undescribed fauna: resolving the evolution and classification of Australia’s golden trapdoor spiders (Idiopidae: Arbanitinae: Euoplini). Cladistics 36: 543–568.
2019
Description: In this study we assembled an expanded phylogeny for the genus Teyl, which is a genus of trapdoor spiders found throughout the Australian arid zone. The phylogeny will serve as a phylogenetic foundation for upcoming morphological taxonomy. We also described the northern-most species in the genus, from the Pilbara, Teyl heuretes.
Article: Huey, JA, Rix, MG, Wilson, JD, Hillyer, MJ & Harvey, MS. (2019). Open-holed trapdoor spiders of the genus Teyl (Mygalomorphae: Nemesiidae: Anamini) from Western Australia's Pilbara bioregion: a new species and expanded phylogenetic assessment. Zootaxa 4674: 349–362.
Description: In this study we revised one of the rarest and most spectacular species-groups of the trapdoor spider genus Euoplos. Males of the group have a bright white carapace and bicoloured legs, and females have never been collected. We described three new species from the south-west Western Australian biodiversity hotspot.
Article: Rix, MG, Wilson, JD & Harvey, MS. (2019). A revision of the white-headed spiny trapdoor spiders of the genus Euoplos (Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae: Euoplini): a remarkable lineage of rare mygalomorph spiders from the south-western Australian biodiversity hotspot. Journal of Arachnology 47: 63–76.
Description: In this study we looked at the palisade trapdoor spiders of south-eastern Queensland, a cool group of trapdoor spiders that make unique 'palisade' burrows that project from the ground like little turrets. We compared morphological, molecular and behavioural data for the group in order to revise their taxonomy, and described four new species, including details on the unique burrow made by each.
Article: Wilson, JD, Rix, MG, Raven, RJ, Schmidt, DJ & Hughes, JM. (2019). Systematics of the palisade trapdoor spiders (Euoplos) of south-eastern Queensland (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Idiopidae): four new species distinguished by their burrow entrance architecture. Invertebrate Systematics 33: 253–276.
Description: This study introduced a long-term demographic study on a vulnerable trapdoor spider species from the fragmented landscape of agricultural south-eastern Queensland. The study is led by Dr Michael Rix. We also described the focal species, Euoplos grandis, and provided insights into its natural history and demography using data collected in the initial 18 months of the study.
Article: Rix, MG, Wilson, JD, Rix, AG, Wojcieszek, AM, Huey, JA & Harvey, MS. (2019). Population demography and biology of a giant spiny trapdoor spider (Idiopidae: Euoplos) from inland Queensland: developing a ‘slow science’ study system to address a conservation crisis. Austral Entomology 58: 282–297.
2018
Description: This study was the first extensive molecular investigation of an eastern Australian mygalomorph genus, and my first publication on mygalomorph spiders. We revealed the existence of two sympatric, reciprocally monophyletic lineages in the trapdoor spider genus Euoplos in eastern Australia, with different microhabitat preferences. One of these lineages was previously only recognized from Tasmania (the south-eastern island state of Australia), but we showed that it is actually widepspread throughout mainland eastern Australia as well.
Article: Wilson, JD, Hughes, JM, Raven, RJ, Rix, MG & Schmidt, DJ. (2018). Spiny trapdoor spiders (Euoplos) of eastern Australia: broadly sympatric clades are coupled with burrow architecture and male morphology. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 122: 157–165.
bottom of page