Lycosid Species Research Articles

New data on the spider fauna of Iran (Arachnida: Araneae), Part X

New faunistic and taxonomic data are provided for 27 families of Iranian spiders. Two lycosid species, Lycosa elymaisa sp. nov. (♂; Kohgiluyeh & Boyer-Ahmad, southwestern Iran) and Pardosa zagrosica sp. nov. (♂♀; Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari and Hamedan, southwestern to northwestern Iran) are described as new to science, three genera (Amaurobius C. L. Koch, 1837, Cercidia Thorell, 1869, Marilynia Lehtinen, 1967) and 19 species are recorded in Iran for the first time, and 75 new provincial records are provided for 50 species. Additionally, Sahastata sinuspersica Marusik, Zamani & Mirshamsi, 2014 is recorded for the first time from Pakistan, and the Georgian record of Neoscona theisi (Walckenaer, 1841) is rejected and attributed to Neoscona spasskyi (Brignoli, 1983). Finally, an updated list of taxa omitted from the checklist of Iranian spiders (including 38 new cases) is presented, reducing the known number of spiders in Iran to 909 species.

New data on the spider fauna of Iran (Arachnida: Araneae), Part IX

New faunistic and taxonomic data are provided for 15 families of Iranian spiders. Two lycosid species, Alopecosa murphyorum sp. n. (♂, Semnan Province) and Alopecosa robertsi sp. n. (♂, Zanjan Province), are described as new to science. Nine species are recorded from Iran for the first time, and 182 new provincial records are provided for 53 species. Among new distributional data, the first confirmed record of the family Leptonetidae in Iran, representing its easternmost record in the West Palaearctic, is provided, as well as a redescription of the recently described Evippa amitaii Armiach Steinpress, Alderweireldt, Cohen, Chipman & Gavish-Regev, 2021 (Lycosidae), and illustrations for the examined type material of Evippa luteipalpis Roewer, 1955 (Lycosidae). Two species, Aulonia albimana (Walckenaer, 1805) (Lycosidae) and Tetragnatha javana (Thorell, 1890) (Tetragnathidae) are removed from the list of Iranian spiders, while Piratula insularis (Emerton, 1885) (Lycosidae) is removed from the list of Turkish spiders. Furthermore, Steatoda paykulliana (Walckenaer, 1806) (Theridiidae) is recorded from India for the first time. The newly described and some other species representing new country or provincial records are illustrated.

DE TAL PALO, TALES ASTILLAS: PROGENIE DE ARAÑAS LOBO DEL URUGUAY (ARANEAE: LYCOSIDAE)

The current study explores information available about number of egg sacs and spiderlings in 14 lycosid species from Uruguay. We found a positive relationship between female body size and progeny, in agreement with hypotheses that propose that larger body size favors fecundity in spiders.

A new primer for metabarcoding of spider gut contents

AbstractAs a key predator group, spiders have received a lot of attention by food web ecologists. The difficulty involved in studying their diet has led to the use of new technologies such as metabarcoding of gut contents. The amplification of a broad range of spider prey without amplifying spiders themselves is challenging. Until now, an efficient universal primer for this purpose was not available. We developed a novel forward primer (NoSpi2) targeting the COI gene. The primer was designed not to amplify spiders ofPardosagenus while amplifying most other invertebrates. NoSpi2 was tested together with the reverse primer BR2 in silico, in vitro on single specimens of prey and spiders, on mock and malaise trap communities, and in an ecological application. In silico evaluation predicted high primer bias forPardosaspecies and more generally for spiders of the oval calamistrum clade (Lycosidae and closely related species) and low bias for other invertebrates. These results were confirmed by in vitro tests. Additionally, some spider families were not amplified contrary to our expectations. We demonstrated a high efficiency for the primer pair NoSpi2/BR2 which recovered 94% of taxa in the mock community and 85% of the taxa detected by the best invertebrate primer pair known for the malaise trap community. The field experiment showed that Lycosidae (Hygrolycosa,Pardosa,Piratula,Trochosa) DNA is not amplified by NoSpi2/BR2. It demonstrated a broad range of detectable prey species (12 orders, 67 families, 117 species). The ability of NoSpi2/BR2 primer to reliably amplify prey species, without amplifying any predator DNA, makes it an ideal choice for gut content analysis for lycosid species and related species, even enabling the homogenization of entire specimens without dissection. Given that the detected prey species included other spiders and carabid beetles, this primer could be also used to study intraguild predation.

Prey contaminated with neonicotinoids induces feeding deterrent behavior of a common farmland spider

Neonicotinoids are thought to have negligible repellent or anti-feeding effects. Based on our preliminary observations, we hypothesized that the contamination of spider prey with commonly used neonicotinoids has repellent or feeding deterrent effects on spiders. We tested this hypothesis by providing prey treated or not with field-realistic concentrations of neonicotinoids to the spiders and determining the number of (a) killed only and (b) killed and eaten prey. We exposed adult freshly molted and starved Pardosa agrestis, a common agrobiont lycosid species, to flies treated with neonicotinoids (acetamiprid, imidacloprid, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam) at field-realistic concentrations or with distilled water as a control. There were no effects of the exposure of the prey to neonicotinoids on the number of flies captured. However, the spiders consumed less of the prey treated with neonicotinoids compared to the ratio of control prey consumed, which resulted in increased overkilling (i.e., killing without feeding). In female P. agrestis, the overkilling increased from only 2.6% of control flies to 25–45% of neonicotinoid-treated flies. As the spiders avoided consuming the already captured neonicotinoid-treated prey, the sublethal effects of neonicotinoids extend beyond the simple attractivity/deterrence of the prey itself. The present study demonstrated that prey overkilling serves as a physiological response of spiders to the contact with the prey contaminated with agrochemicals. We speculate that primary contact with neonicotinoids during prey capture may play a role in this unexpected behavior.

Chromosome evolution in lycosoid spiders (Araneomorphae): a scenario based on analysis of seven species of the families Lycosidae, Senoculidae and Trechaleidae

Abstract Within the araneomorph lineage Entelegynae, the “Higher lycosoids” (“True Lycosoids” or Lycosoidea s.s.) is one of the major clades varying in its composition based on several conflicting phylogenetic hypotheses. So far, only a few species have been studied cytogenetically. In this work, the chromosomes of a senoculid spider were investigated for the first time, along with a cytogenetic analysis of six species of the families Lycosidae and Trechaleidae. Mitotic metaphase cells of the lycosid species revealed 2n♂ = 18 + X0 in Hogna sternalis (Bertkau 1880) and Lycosa nordenskjoldi Tullgren 1905, and 2n♂ = 20 + X1X20 in Lycosa erythrognatha Lucas 1836 and Lycosa sericovittata Mello-Leitao 1939. Chromosomal analysis of the trechaleid and senoculid species showed 2n♀ = 22 in Neoctenus comosus Simon 1897 (Trechaleidae), and 2n♂ = 26 + X1X20 in Syntrechalea syntrechaloides (Mello-Leitao 1941) (Trechaleidae) and Senoculus sp. (Senoculidae). This latter karyotype is a shared feature in most species of Ly...

Nocturnal, diurnal, crepuscular: activity assessments of Pisauridae and Lycosidae

Animals are commonly categorized as diurnal, nocturnal, or crepuscular depending on the times of day when they are most active. These categories, although convenient, would be more useful if we knew more about how closely animal activity conformed to the labels. Similarly, if we knew more about the degree of nocturnality or diurnality of a particular species, we would have increased understanding of the selective forces acting on it. To clarify the intensity of nocturnality or diurnality in lycosoid spiders, we measured activity in 46 spiders divided among three congeneric species of fishing spiders (Pisauridae) and five species of wolf spiders (Lycosidae), in an austere laboratory setting. Overall, the three pisaurid species, pooled, were less than half as active as the five lycosid species, also pooled. All three species of fishing spiders and four of the five species of wolf spiders were strongly nocturnal in their activity. Only one species, the wolf spider Piratula minuta (Emerton 1885), was diurnal. None of the individual spiders that showed statistically significant nocturnal or diurnal activity (31 of 31 lycosids, 14 of 15 pisaurids) was purely nocturnal or diurnal. In all individual cases except for a single ambivalent Dolomedes tenebrosus Hentz 1844 (Pisauridae), statistically strong nocturnality was accompanied by substantial activity during the light hours, and statistically strong diurnality was accompanied by substantial activity during the dark hours. We discuss the overall low variability in activity patterns among the fishing spiders in comparison to the much higher variability among the activity patterns of the wolf spiders, the common but not ubiquitous presence of ultradian periodicities in individual spiders, and the significance of the fact that none of the individual spiders was strictly nocturnal or strictly diurnal.

Spider Fauna of Mt. Yongmunsan, Gyeonggi-do in Korea

Spider fauna of Mt. Yongmunsan located in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, was surveyed from April to October in 1996. A total of 75 species of 51 genera in 22 families from 996 individuals of spiders were identified. Species richness of each family, there were 17 Araneid species (22.7%), followed by each of the 7 Thomisid and Tetragnathid species (9.3%), 6 Salticid species (8.0%), and 5 Lycosid species (6.7%). Zoogeographically, spider fauna of Mt. Yongmunsan represented 1 cosmopolitan species (1.3%), 2 holarctic region species (2.6%), and 9 palearctic region species (12.0%), and 4 Korean endemic species (4.0%). Thus it is suggested that spider fauna of Mt. Yongmunsan was under northern regional influence.

Contributions on the Wolf Spider Fauna (Araneae, Lycosidae) of Gran Canaria (Spain)

Summary Collecting trips on Grand Canaria from 1990 to 2002 yielded eight lycosid species from five genera: Alopecosa artenarensis, Alopecosa grancanariensis, Alopecosa thaleri, Arctosa lacustris, Arctosa similis, Hogna ferox, Pardosa proxima and Wadicosa fidelis. One species was recorded for the first time from Gran Canaria: W. fidelis. The results of this study differ from previous lists of the lycosid fauna in the literature. For example, the species Alopecosa obscura, Hogna canariana and Trochosa lucasi were not found during our collecting trips. The H. canariana and Arctosa cinerea of previous studies have presumably been misidentified.

A molecular systematic overview of wolf spiders associated with Great Artesian Basin springs in South Australia: evolutionary affinities and an assessment of metapopulation structure in two species

The molecular genetic techniques of allozyme electrophoresis and mitochondrial DNA sequencing were used to examine species boundaries, phylogenetic affinities, and population structure in wolf spiders associated with artesian springs of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) in South Australia. These springs contain the only permanent water in this extremely arid region, and consequently are of great biological, economic, and sociological significance. Molecular diagnoses of species boundaries in nine lycosid species, involving 56 individuals genotyped at 37 putative allozyme loci and 21 individuals sequenced for a ~600-bp portion of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase 1 (NADH1), were largely concordant with those recently proposed on morphological criteria. They also identified a species not previously collected, and suggested that GAB and mesic forms of Venatrix arenaris (Hogg) may not be conspecific. As well as insights into the evolutionary relationships among species and genera, phylogenetic analysis demonstrated two distinct GAB lineages within Venatrix Roewer and Hogna Simon. Population structure analyses of the two most widespread species revealed contrasting patterns. For V. fontis Framenau & Vink, allozyme analyses of 300 individuals at 15 polymorphic loci plus NADH1 sequence analysis of 72 individuals revealed the presence of distinctive subpopulations at most sites, and a partial correlation with overall geographic proximity. In contrast, allozyme analysis of 191 V. arenaris specimens at 12 polymorphic loci demonstrated a comparative lack of both within-site variability and between-site differentiation in the GAB metapopulation.

Landscape effects on recolonisation patterns of spiders in arable fields

The influence of the availability of surrounding boundaries and grasslands on the recolonisation of lycosid and linyphiid spiders was studied in early spring in 12 winter barley fields situated in differently structured landscapes. It was found that the more cursorial lycosid spiders foremost showed a dependence on time when recolonising arable fields, and increased in numbers during the critical time of pest establishment, although lycosid species richness also was related to the surrounding landscape. Linyphiid spiders, which are more likely to disperse by air than lycosids, did not show an increase in numbers over time, but were more affected by the surrounding landscape. However, these spiders also showed a dependence on time, because the positive effect of surrounding boundaries was significant in the beginning but not at the end of the study period. Thus, most spiders showed a difference in migration patterns over time and both spider families were positively influenced by the surrounding boundaries and grasslands during recolonisation of crop fields after winter. In order to enhance pest suppression by spiders, overwintering structures should be provided in crop-dominated landscapes to facilitate spider migration into crop fields during early spring.

Molecular Phylogeny of East Asian Wolf Spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae) Inferred from Mitochondrial 12S Ribosomal DNA

Abstract This study investigates molecular phylogenetic relationships of East Asian wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae), focusing on species from Korea. We analyzed a sequence data set making up a portion of the mitochondrial 12S gene from 22 Korean lycosid species, belonging to seven genera (Alopecosa, Arctosa, Lycosa, Pardosa, Pirata, Trochosa, and Xerolycosa) in four subfamilies (Evippinae, Lycosinae, Pardosinae, and Venoniinae). All Korean wolf spiders were well grouped within monophyletic clades corresponding to existing genera, with the exception of Arctosa and Alopecosa, which were both polyphyletic. The genus Arctosa formed two distantly separated clades, and the clade composed of A. kwangreungensis and A. ebicha was posited as the sister group of all the other Korean wolf spiders. We also combined our data set with 44 previously published sequences from other lycosids from various geographical regions. As with the analyses for Korean taxa, the genus Arctosa still contained two distantly separated c...

Phylogenetic reconstruction of the wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae) using sequences from the 12S rRNA, 28S rRNA, and NADH1 genes: Implications for classification, biogeography, and the evolution of web building behavior

Current knowledge of the evolutionary relationships amongst the wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae) is based on assessment of morphological similarity or phylogenetic analysis of a small number of taxa. In order to enhance the current understanding of lycosid relationships, phylogenies of 70 lycosid species were reconstructed by parsimony and Bayesian methods using three molecular markers; the mitochondrial genes 12S rRNA, NADH1, and the nuclear gene 28S rRNA. The resultant trees from the mitochondrial markers were used to assess the current taxonomic status of the Lycosidae and to assess the evolutionary history of sheet-web construction in the group. The results suggest that a number of genera are not monophyletic, including Lycosa, Arctosa, Alopecosa, and Artoria. At the subfamilial level, the status of Pardosinae needs to be re-assessed, and the position of a number of genera within their respective subfamilies is in doubt (e.g., Hippasa and Arctosa in Lycosinae and Xerolycosa, Aulonia and Hygrolycosa in Venoniinae). In addition, a major clade of strictly Australasian taxa may require the creation of a new subfamily. The analysis of sheet-web building in Lycosidae revealed that the interpretation of this trait as an ancestral state relies on two factors: (1) an asymmetrical model favoring the loss of sheet-webs and (2) that the suspended silken tube of Pirata is directly descended from sheet-web building. Paralogous copies of the nuclear 28S rRNA gene were sequenced, confounding the interpretation of the phylogenetic analysis and suggesting that a cautionary approach should be taken to the further use of this gene for lycosid phylogenetic analysis.

A new species of the spider genus Hippasa (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Yonagunijima Is., the Yaeyama Isls., Japan

A new lycosid species, Hippasa babai, is described using the specimens from Yonagunijima Is., which can be distinguished from H. holmerae Thorell 1895 by short male papal tibia as well as broad and thick projection of epigynum.

MALE PEDIPALPAL STRIDULATORY DEVICES IN NEOTROPICAL WOLF SPIDERS AND THEIR POSSIBLE ROLE IN SYSTEMATICS

Abstract In males of several Uruguayan lycosid species of the genera Lycosa, Schizocosa, Aglaoctenus and Allocosa, we used Scanning Electron Microscopy to investigate the existence and the morphology of pedipalpal stridulatory-like structures. These kinds of structures only appeared in species belonging to the subfamily Lycosinae, and representatives of the Allocosinae and Sosippinae subfamilies lacked them altogether. Unlike European Lycosa species, all surveyed Uruguayan species of the genus Lycosa presented the character to some extent, but interspecific differences occurred in the relative size and development of the structure. Lycosa thorelli, L. carbonelli and Lycosa sp. showed a very well developed pedipalpal structure, which was smaller in Lycosa poliostoma. Schizocosa malitiosa also exhibited an only partially developed structure. A possible role of these pedipalpal stridulatory-like structures in lycosid systematics is discussed. RESUMEN. Mediante Microscopia Electronica de Barrido, hemos analiz...

Wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae) on the overgrowing peat bog in Dubravica (north-western Croatia)

Wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae) on the overgrowing peat bog in Dubravica (north-western Croatia). The peat bog in Dubravica is of spread interest due to its overgrowing by the process of natural succession, causing the habitat to become dryer and shadier. The dominance structure and phenology of wolf spiders on the Dubravica bog was studied. The spiders were collected during the period 09.04.-9.10.1995, using 20 pitfall traps. Altogether 10 lycosid species were found among 723 adult individuals. For six more abundant species phenology graphs are presented. Three species are found to be eudominant: Pardosa lugubris, Trochosa spinipalpis and Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata. The lycosids habitat preferences and dominance structure according the habitat condition and species occurrences on some other European bogs are discussed. 55,2 % caught specimens are hygrophilous species, and only 7,6 % are photophilous. The lycosid fauna and dominance structure does reflect the habitat condition. As overgrowing is not fully progressed yet, the lycosid fauna of this bog is still relatively bog-characteristic.

A PRELIMINARY MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS OF AUSTRALASIAN WOLF SPIDER GENERA (ARANEAE, LYCOSIDAE)

A data-set from the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene subunit of 11 Australasian lycosid species (six New Zealand species and five Australian species) was generated. Three North American lycosid species, one European species and one New Zealand pisaurid (outgroup) were also sequenced. The sequence data for the 16 species were combined with the published sequences of 12 European lycosids, two Asian lycosids and one Asian pisaurid and were analyzed using parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses. The resulting phylogenetic trees reveal that Australasian species largely form clades distinct from Palearctic and Holarctic species providing further evidence against the placement of Australasian species in Northern Hemisphere genera. New Zealand wolf spiders appear to be related to a subset of Australian genera whereas the other Australian lycosid genera are related to Asian/Holarctic faunas. Gene sequences in the 12S region were useful when examining relationships between closely related genera, but were not as informative for deeper generic relationships.

EFFECT OF RIVER FLOW MANIPULATION ON WOLF SPIDER ASSEMBLAGES AT THREE DESERT RIPARIAN SITES

The distribution, abundance, and diversity of wolf spider (Lycosidae) assemblages were investigated via pitfall trapping at three sites near Granite Reef Dam outside Phoenix, Arizona. These three sites featured different moisture and temperature regimes due to the dam, which diverts the Salt River into an urban canal system. Site 1 was a natural riparian area above the dam along the Salt River, Site 2 was adjacent to a man-made diversion canal, and Site 3 was adjacent to the dry riverbed below the dam. Four lycosid species were found at Site 1, with Pardosa vadosa Barnes 1959 dominating. Two species each, though very few total individuals, were found at Sites 2 and 3. Simpson's index of diversity (of lycosids and of all other terrestrial arthropods) was higher for Site 1 than for Sites 2-3. Prey availability was comparable among sites, but Site 1 had significantly higher relative soil moisture levels and less extreme substrate and air temperature conditions than did Sites 2 and 3. Spider abundance at each site was independent of prey availability, but instead depended chiefly upon moisture and temperature regimes among sites. The results suggest that wolf spiders experienced a significant effect from disturbance of their habitat by the dam, and that abiotic habitat attributes such as moisture and temperature may be more important for wolf spider abundance than prey availability alone in desert riparian systems.

Ecological Studies on Wolf Spiders(Araneae: Lycosidae) in a Northwest Area of Kanto Plain, Central Japan: Diel Activity and Habitat Preference Observed by Pitfall Trapping.

Interspecific differences in diel activity and habitat preference of wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae) were observed by pitfall trapping in a northwest area of Kanto Plain, Japan. Pardosa agraria, P.astrigera and P.graminea were all collected only in daytime, and Pirata yaginumai and Pirata piratoides showed slightly diurnal and nocturnal tendency, respectively. Arctosa fujiii, Pirata clercki, Pirata procurvus, Pirata tanakai, and Tricca japonica can be regarded as aperiodic. Lycosid habitats were classified by combining qualities or grades of three environmental elements of substratum (B, bare soil; L, live plants; D, dead plants), light condition (s, sunshine; d, dark or shade) and water condition (0, rain alone; 1, standing water; 2, running water). Though every lycosid species occurred in three or more habitat classes, and seldom on upper parts of live plants, the highest frequency was observed in Bs0 in Pardosa astrigera, Ls0 in Pardosa graminea and Trochosa ruricola, Ls1 in Pirata clercki, Ls2 in Pardosa agraria, Pirata piratoides and Pirata yaginumai, Ds0 in Pirata procurvus and Pirata tanakai, Ds1 in Arctosa ebicha and Tricca japonica, and in Dd0 in Arctosa fujiii. Other seven lycosid species (Alopecosa virgata, Arctosa depectinata, Arctosa subamylacea, Lycosa coelestis, Pardosa pseudoannulata, Pardosa yaginumai and Pirata subpiraticus) in the study area were not or seldom trapped because of their low mobility or low density at the trapping sites. Differences between stages or sexes were obscure both in diel activity and habitat preference.

Prey and Nocturnal Activity of Wolf Spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae) in Cotton Fields in the Delta Region of Mississippi

Nocturnal observation and collection of wolf spiders in cotton in the Delta region of Mississippi indicates that Coleoptera and Diptera are important prey. Lycosa antelucana Montgomery represented 75.1% of the lycosid spiders observed and 89.6% of those with prey in cotton fields. Among prey taken were the cotton insect pests Heliothis virescens (F.) and Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois). Pardosa milvina (Hentz) represented 24% of the total sample and 8.5% of those spiders observed with prey. A third lycosid species, Lycosa helluo (Hentz), captured the remaining 1.8% of the prey taken but was rarely observed ( 4%) in or near dens or retreats.