Lycosa sp.

Steinpress, Igor Armiach, Cohen, Mira, Pétillon, Julien, Chipman, Ariel D. & Gavish-Regev, Efrat, 2022, Lycosa Latreille, 1804 (Araneae, Lycosidae) of Israel, with a note on Geolycosa Montgomery, 1904, European Journal of Taxonomy 832 (1), pp. 1-54 : 25-27

Lycosa sp.

Figs 1 , 6E , 7E , 9A , 10A , 11A–B

Diagnosis

Female

Epigyne: septal pedicel absent, septum trapezoidal, broader proximally, as wide as long. Copulatory openings not visible in ventral view (only Lycosa in the Levant without visible copulatory openings!) ( Figs 6E , 7E , 9A , 10A , 11A–B ).

Male

Unknown.

Material examined

ISRAEL – Arava Valley • ♀; Nahal Amatsyahu; [30.835° N, 35.275° E]; 13 Nov. 1988; B. Shalmon leg.; HUJ INV-AR20573 .

Description

Female

FEMALE MEASUREMENTS. AME diameter: 0.45; ALE diameter: 0.3; PME diameter: 1.1; PLE diameter: 1; carapace length: 7.1; carapace width: 5.2; carapace maximal height: 3; abdomen length: 10.7; leg I (Fe, Pa, Ti, Mt, Tr): 5.7, 2.7, 4.2, 3.7, 2.4; leg II: 5.4, 2.7, 4, 3.9, 2.3; leg III: 5.1, 2.5, 3.7, 4.9, 2.4; leg IV: 6.6, 2.4, 5.2, 7, 2.9.

CARAPACE. Ocular area>⅓ length of carapace, distinctly raised, making the carapace between PLE and fovea appear slightly concave in profile.

COLOR. Carapace cream colored, darker on margins, with chocolate brown median bands, connecting to dark ocular area. Sternum yellow. Chelicerae reddish-brown. Abdomen cream colored with light brown chevrons dorsad. Abdomen venter with black patch posterior to epigastric fold, connecting to two parallel black bars stretching towards spinnerets (Π shaped patch). Spinnerets yellow. Legs yellow, infused with brown dorsad, yellow ventrad with two black bands on tibia, to reddish-brown distad, Coxae and trochanters yellow. Pedipalps yellow, to dark brown distad ( Figs 6E , 7E ).

GENITALIA. Epigyne longer than wide. Septal pedicel absent, septum connects directly to epigyne. Septum trapezoidal, wider proximally, about as long as proximal part of epigyne. Copulatory openings not seen in ventral view. Spermatheca spiral-shaped, distal part arching laterally. Head of spermatheca slightly wider than sperm duct, oval, positioned anterior to copulatory opening ( Figs 9A , 10A , 11A–B ).

LEGS. Metatarsus I ventral spination: 2 pairs + apical triplet. Tibia I ventral spination: 2 pairs + apical pair. Tarsus with scopula.

Natural history

A single female was collected in the hyperarid desert (annual precipitation <75 mm) of the ‘Arava valley, ~ 200 m below sea level ( Fig. 1 , Table 4 ). No ecological data is available.

Records

ISRAEL: ‘Arava Valley (Nahal Amatsyahu).

Relationships

As of the writing of this paper, we have not succeded in collecting fresh specimens, and therefore we could not test its relationship using molecular methods. Somatically, it resembles L. gesserit sp. nov. and L. hyraculus sp. nov. Additionally, it is the only other specimen in our dataset, apart from the L. gesserit male, to exhibit a ventral patch on the abdomen shaped like the letter Π. As we could not know whether this is a new species or the female of L. gesserit , it is described here as Lycosa sp. only.

Notes

We executed at least five field trips to the locality where this specimen was collected, at different dates, and couldn’t find a single specimen of Lycosa any more. Since 1988, when the specimen was collected, intensive agriculture has changed the area, and this might have eradicated the habitat of this species.

Figures

Fig. 1. Collecting localities for this study (small map points to a locality in southern Sinai). ■: Geolycosa vultuosa C.L. Koch, 1838.x: Lycosa gesseritsp. nov. o: Lycosasp. ★: Lycosa hyraculussp. nov. ●: Lycosa piochardi Simon, 1876. Isohyets represent mean annual precipitation in mm. Arrows point to localities represented in molecular phylogeny.

Fig. 6.Habitus, dorsal view. A. Geolycosa vultuosa C.L. Koch, 1838, ♂ (HUJ INV-AR20961). B. Lycosa gesserit sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (HUJ INV-AR20631). C. Lycosa hyraculus sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (HUJ INV-AR20818). D. Lycosa piochardi Simon, 1876, ♂ (HUJ INV-AR20597). E. Lycosa sp., ♀ (HUJ INV-AR20573). F. Lycosa hyraculus sp. nov., paratype, ♀ (HUJ INV-AR20817). G. Lycosa piochardi Simon, 1876, ♀ (SMFD11934). Scale bars = 10 mm. Photos by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 7. Habitus, ventral view. A. Geolycosa vultuosa C.L. Koch, 1838, ♂ (HUJ INV-AR20961). B. Lycosa gesserit sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (HUJ INV-AR20631). C. Lycosa hyraculus sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (HUJ INV-AR20818). D. Lycosa piochardi Simon, 1876, ♂ (HUJ INV-AR20597). E. Lycosa sp., ♀ (HUJ INV-AR20573). F. Lycosa hyraculus sp. nov., paratype, ♀ (HUJ INV-AR20817). G. Lycosa piochardi Simon, 1876, ♀ (SMFD11934). Scale bars = 10 mm. Photos by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 9. Epigynes, ventral view. A. Lycosa sp. (HUJ INV-AR20573). B. Lycosa hyraculus sp. nov., paratype (HUJ INV-AR20817). C–L. Lycosa piochardi Simon, 1876. C. HUJ INV-AR20607. D. HUJ INV-AR20912. E. HUJ INV-AR20671. F. SMFD2184. G. HUJ INV-AR20963. H. HUJ INV-AR20709. I. HUJ INV-AR20897. J. HUJ INV-AR20530. K. HUJ INV-AR20860. L. HUJ INV-AR20758. M. Lycosa praegrandis C.L. Koch, 1836 (Veles, North Macedonia, 1 Jun. 2002; courtesy of Marjan Komnenov). Scale bars = 0.5 mm. Photos by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 10. Epigynes, dorsal view. A. Lycosa sp. (HUJ INV-AR20573). B. Lycosa hyraculus sp. nov., paratype (HUJ INV-AR20817). C–L. Lycosa piochardi Simon, 1876 (HUJ INV-AR20607). D. HUJ INV-AR20912. E. HUJ INV-AR20671. F. SMFD2184. G. HUJ INV-AR20963. H. HUJ INV-AR20709. I. HUJ INV-AR20897. J. HUJ INV-AR20530. K. HUJ INV-AR20860. L. HUJ INV-AR20758. M. Lycosa praegrandis C.L. Koch, 1836 (Veles, North Macedonia, 1 Jun. 2002; courtesy of Marjan Komnenov). Scale bars = 0.5 mm. Photos by I. Armiach Steinpress.

Fig. 11. Lycosa female epigyne, line drawings. A–B. Lycosa sp. (HUJ INV-AR20573). A. Ventral view. B. Dorsal view. C–D. Lycosa hyraculus sp. nov., paratype (HUJ INV-AR20817). C. Ventral view. D. Dorsal view. E–F. Lycosa piochardi Simon, 1876 (HUJ INV-AR20709). E. Ventral view. F. Dorsal view. Scale bars = 0.5 mm. Drawings by I. Armiach Steinpress.