Backobourkia

Backobourkia is a genus of South Pacific orb-weaver spiders first described by Volker Framenau, Nadine Dupérré, Todd Blackledge & Cor Vink in 2010.[2] It is a common Australian spider, closely related to Eriophora and placed in the "coxal hook clade" of the Araneinae subfamily of Araneidae. Females are generally the same size among all species, but males are much smaller, suggesting male dwarfism throughout the genus.[2] The genus name is a play on the well known Australian idiom, "Back of Bourke", meaning very remote and beyond the limits of civilization.

Backobourkia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Backobourkia Framenau, Dupérré, Blackledge & Vink, 2010[1]
Type species
B. heroine (L. Koch, 1871)
Species
B. brouni (Urquhart, 1885) – Australia, New Zealand B. collina (Keyserling, 1886) – Australia B. heroine (L. Koch, 1871) – Australia (mainland, Norfolk Is.), New Caledonia, possibly New Zealand

Species

As of April 2019 it contains only three species: B. brouni, B. collina, and B. heroine.[1] B. heroine is more common in western Australia, while B. brouni is more common in eastern Australia. B. heroine is found on New Caledonia and possibly also in New Zealand.[2]

References

1. "Gen. Backobourkia Framenau, Dupérré, Blackledge & Vink, 2010". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2019-05-11.
2. Framenau, V. W.; Dupérré, N.; Blackledge, T. A.; Vink, C. (2010). "Systematics of the new Australasian orb-weaving spider genus Backobourkia (Araneae: Araneidae: Araneinae)". Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny. 68: 79–111.