Comparative morphology of the Australian lynx spiders of the genus Oxyopes(Araneae : Oxyopidae)

We examined the morphology of the genitalia and cuticular scales of eight s pecies of Australian lynx spiders of the genus Oxyopes and compared them wi th those of representative species from Africa, Asia and North America. Our results indicate that the eight species examined are representative of two distinct species groups of Oxyopes in Australia. The first group consists of O. amoenus, O. dingo, O. gracilipes, O. molarius, O. rubicundus, and O. variabilis. The evolutionary origin of these spiders is difficult to discer n as they share multiple genitalic characters with African and Asian taxa. However, these six species display two characters, leg scales and internal cuticular elements in the opisthosomal scales, that are exhibited by Africa n, but not Asian, taxa. The second group consists of Oxyopes macilentus and O. papuanis. These taxa exhibit many of the same morphological features, e xhibited by Asian, but not African, species.