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Allocosa

Allocosa is a spider genus of the wolf spider family, Lycosidae. The more than hundred recognized species are spread worldwide.

Description

The carapace is sometimes dark but usually has a pale median band and pale submarginal bands, with setae usually restricted to the eye area and mid-dorsal line. Viewed from above, the carapace is convex at the lateral margins and narrowed at the level of legs I.

The anterior eye row is slightly procurved, equal in length to the middle row or somewhat shorter, with anterior median eyes larger than anterior laterals and slightly closer to anterior laterals than to each other. The anterior median eyes are located on a small prominence. The sternum is yellow, orange, brown, or black.

The chelicerae have 2 or 3 promarginal and 3 retromarginal teeth. The legs are usually dark orange or red-brown with notched trochanters. The abdomen is ovoid with the dorsum usually dull yellow with fine to dense black spots or reticulation. The venter is dull yellow or orange, sometimes with small black spots or paired longitudinal dark bands. The anterior end has a cluster of dark, curved, erect setae.

Lifestyle

Species in this genus are free running ground dwellers.

Taxonomy

The genus Allocosa was described by Nathan Banks in 1900 with the type species Allocosa funerea (Hentz, 1844). Roewer in 1959 and the World Spider Catalog list numerous species of this genus from Africa.

However, Dondale and Redner in 1983 revised the genus in North and Central America and found one of the important characters to be a bifid median apophysis of the male palp.

According to Russell-Smith, he has never observed this character in the thousands of African lycosids he has examined, including South African specimens, and is reasonably convinced that the genus is confined to the Americas.

The true placement of the African species assigned to Allocosa remains uncertain and would require re-examination of all the species assigned to the genus by Roewer.

Species

, this genus includes 130 species.

These species have articles on Wikipedia:

References

External links