Theraphosid spiders (tarantulas) are venomous arthropods found in most tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Tarantula venoms are a complex cocktail of toxins with potential use as pharmacological tools, drugs and bioinsecticides. Although numerous toxins have been isolated from tarantula venoms, little research has been carried out on the venom of Australian tarantulas. We therefore investigated the venom profile of the Australian theraphosid spider Phlogius crassipes and examined whether there are ontogenetic changes in venom composition. Spiders were divided into four ontogenic groups according to cephalothorax length, then the venom composition of each group was examined using gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. We found that the venom of P. crassipes changes continuously during development and throughout adulthood. Our data highlight the need to investigate the venom of organisms over the course of their lives to uncover and understand the changing functions of venom and the full range of toxins expressed. This in turn should lead to a deeper understanding of the organism’s ecology and enhance the potential for biodiscovery.

The Corinnidae of the western Pacific are revised. The formerly sparassid genus Anchognatha Thorell, 1881, and the gnaphosid genus Battalus Karsch, 1878, are transferred to the Castianeirinae. The Corinninae include only the introduced Creugas gulosus Thorell, 1878 and Medmassa christae sp. nov. from the northern Torres Strait islands. Medmassa pallipes (L. Koch, 1873) and Medmassa pusilla Simon, 1896 are newly synonymised with Creugas gulosus. The Castianeirinae from the Western Pacific including Australia includes Battalus Karsch, 1878, Copa Simon, 1886, Leichhardteus Raven & Baehr, 2013, Nyssus Walckenaer, 1805, Poecilipta Simon, 1897, and eight new genera: Disnyssus gen. nov., Iridonyssus gen. nov., Kolora gen. nov., Leptopicia gen. nov., Melanesotypus gen. nov., Nucastia gen. nov., Ozcopa gen. nov. and Ticopa gen. nov. Battalus includes B. adamparsonsi sp. nov., B. baehrae sp. nov., B. bidgemia sp. nov., B. byrneae sp. nov., B. diadens sp. nov., B. helenstarkae sp. nov., B. microspinosus sp. nov., B. rugosus sp. nov., B. spinipes Karsch, 1878, B. wallum sp. nov., B. zuytdorp sp. nov. and B. semiflavus (Simon, 1896), new combination (transferred from Medmassa). Copa, an otherwise African and Sri Lankan genus, includes C. kabana sp. nov. Disnyssus gen. nov. includes D. helenmirrenae sp. nov. and D. judidenchae sp. nov. Iridonyssus gen. nov. includes I. auripilosus sp. nov., I. formicans sp. nov., I. kohouti sp. nov. and I. leucostaurus sp. nov. Kolora gen. nov. includes K. cushingae sp. nov., K. cooloola sp. nov. and K. lynneae sp. nov., and K. sauverubens (Simon, 1896) new combination (transferred from Corinnomma Karsch, 1880). Leichhardteus includes Leichhardteus yagan sp. nov., Leichhardteus evschlingeri sp. nov., Leichhardteus strzelecki sp. nov., as well as eight recently described species. Leptopicia gen. nov. includes only Methesis bimaculata (Simon, 1896) new combination (transferred from Methesis Simon, 1896). Melanesotypus guadal gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Solomon Islands. Nucastia gen. nov., includes N. culburra sp. nov., N. eneabba sp. nov., N. muncoonie sp. nov., N. supunnoides sp. nov. and N. virewoods sp. nov.; Medmassa fusca Hogg, 1900 is transferred to Nucastia but is considered a nomen dubium. The genera Anchognatha and Supunna Simon, 1897 are junior synonyms of Nyssus, which includes Supunna albopunctatus (Hogg, 1896), Anchognatha avida Thorell, 1881, Nyssus coloripes Walckenaer, 1805, N. emu sp. nov., Agroeca insularis L. Koch, 1873 (from Fiji and the Solomon Islands), N. jaredwarden sp. nov., N. jonraveni sp. nov., N. loureedi sp. nov., N. luteofinis sp. nov., N. paradoxus sp. nov., N. pseudomaculatus sp. nov., N. robertsi sp. nov., N. semifuscus sp. nov., N. wendyae sp. nov. and N. yuggera sp. nov. Supunna funerea (Simon, 1896) and Supunna albomaculata (Rainbow, 1902) are junior synonyms of Nyssus albopunctatus; Supunna picta (L. Koch, 1873) and Storena auripes Rainbow, 1916 are junior synonyms of Nyssus coloripes Walckenaer, 1805. Ozcopa gen. nov. includes O. chiunei sp. nov., O. colloffi sp. nov., O. margotandersenae sp. nov., O. mcdonaldi sp. nov., O. monteithi sp. nov. and O. zborowskii sp. nov. Poecilipta includes P. carnarvon sp. nov., P. contorqua sp. nov., P. davidi sp. nov., P. elvis sp. nov., P. formiciforme (Rainbow, 1904) comb. nov. (transferred from Corinnomma), P. gloverae sp. nov., P. harveyi sp. nov., P. kgari sp. nov., P. samueli sp. nov., P. janthina Simon, 1896, P. kohouti sp. nov., P. lugubris sp. nov., P. marengo sp. nov., P. metallica sp. nov., P. micaelae sp. nov., P. qunats sp. nov., P. rawlinsonae sp. nov., P. ruthae Santana & Raven, sp. nov., P. smaragdinea (Simon, 1909) new combination (transferred from Supunna), P. tinda sp. nov., P. venusta Rainbow, 1904, P. waldockae sp. nov., P. wallacei sp. nov., P. yambuna sp. nov., and P. zbigniewi sp. nov. Ticopa gen. nov. includes T. australis sp. nov., T. carnarvon sp. nov., T. chinchilla sp. nov., T. dingo sp. nov., T. hudsoni sp. nov., and T. longbottomi sp. nov. For comparative purposes, males of the South-east Asian Corinnomma severum (Thorell, 1881) (the type-species) and C. javanum Simon, 1905 are figured and supplementary notes provided. Liocranum australiensis L. Koch, 1873 is transferred from Medmassa to Miturga where it is a nomen dubium. One hundred and eight species are treated in this work, of which 77 are new, 21 existing species are recognised; five existing genera are recognised, two are placed in synonymy, eight new genera are added; and one species is transferred to Miturgidae and another is listed as a nomen dubium. The Australian...