Trochosa sepulchralis, a senior synonym of Trochosa acompa, and the restoration of Trochosa abdita (Araneae, Lycosidae)

Abstract

Trochosa sepulchralis (Montgomery 1902) is recognized as the senior synonym of Trochosa acompa (Chamberlin 1924) based upon careful examination of critical morphological characteristics. In addition, Trochosa abdita (Gertsch 1934), once considered a junior synonym of T. acompa, is now recognized as a valid species. Trochosa sepulchralais and T. abdita are fully illustrated and described, and essential information regarding species identification, morphological dimensions, and geographic distribution is included. Spiders of the lycosid genus Trochosa are small to medium sized wolf spiders (5.8-13.0 mm) that are largely Holarctic in distribution. They are often found at the edge of woods and in woodland habitats. In this paper, we clarify the relationship of two Nearctic species in this genus: Trochosa sepulchralis (Montgomery 1902) and T. abdita (Gertsch 1934). Previously T. sepulchralis and T. acompa (Chamberlin 1924) were recognized as separate species (Platnick 2007), but are in fact one with T. sepulchralis as the senior synonym. Roewer (1955) placed T. sepulchralis in Geolycosa, despite the fact that it lacks characteristic features of this genus, such as a very high cephalothorax, darkened forelegs, and obligate burrowing behavior. Trochosa abdita was considered a junior synonym of T. acompa by Wallace (1947), but it is a distinct species. Both species have genitalic and morphological characters consistent with those of Trochosa. Lycosa sepulchralis was first described by Montgomery (1902) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and has received little attention since that time. When Lycosa acompa was described by Chamberlin (1924) from a single female individual collected from New Orleans, he apparently was unaware of the great similarities between these two popula- tions. As a result, they have been recognized as two separate species up to this point. This research began as an investigation into the relationship between T. abdita and T. acompa. We discovered drawings by Brady during the 1970's of the L. sepulchralis holotype that bore a striking similarity to T. acompa. The holotypes were then compared and it was concluded that they represent the same species, and hence the new synonymy. Gertsch (1934) described L. abdita based upon a single female specimen. For reasons that were not made clear, Wallace (1947) synonomized it with L. acompa. The two species were grouped together and locality records for these two species from Florida, Texas, and Georgia were consoli- dated. Barnes (1953) did not recognize Wallace's synonymy when he included T. abdita in a list of spiders from North Carolina, nor did Roewer (1955). Trochosa abdita and T. acompa, both originally described in Lycosa, were not included in Brady's revision of the genus Trochosa (Brady 1979), but their placement in this group is now considered valid. A thorough examination of the holotypes and many additional specimens of both species collected during the past 50 years have allowed us to clarify the distribution of and relationship between T. abdita and T. sepulchralis. Differences in size, geographic distribution, and the morphology of somatic and reproductive structures in these two species became readily apparent, and the existence of two distinct species is now recognized. Trochosa abdita occurs in peninsular Florida and north along the eastern seaboard to North Carolina, while T. sepulchralis is found from the Florida panhandle east throughout Texas. Specimens from Pennsylvania and New York extend the range of the latter species into New England (Fig. 21). Little is known of the natural history of these two species other than that inferred through collection methods and locations, and the scant information found with the original descriptions. Wallace (1947) reported T. abdita collected from ''leaf mould of mesophytic hammocks in northcentral Florida.'' He also noted that T. abdita ''is usually found close to its retreat which is most often a shallow burrow in the ground beneath the leaf mould.'' Whether or not T. sepulchralis shares these specific behavioral characteristics needs to be ascertained. It is hoped that this paper will stimulate further investigations of these interesting woodland wolf spiders. METHODS