Pardosa lapidicina group
Pardosa is a scary genus when it comes to doing species identifications. There may be too many similar species. There may be too much variation within each species. There is strong sexual dimorphism in many species that doubles the difficulties. I'd rather think positively and make the assumption that there is some way to tell species apart. The descriptions in scientific literature all seem similar, and they are very hard to understand without photographs. So, the only solution is to find and document local populations thoroughly. Trying to get a sampling of males, females and juveniles. Hopefully we can find places where only a single species is present. Then we can start to see similarities and get an idea which characteristics are too variable to be useful. Once we can separate our observations into species, we can start matching up our unidentified species with the ones that have been described.
Pardosa includes several species groups, and one of the more easy to recognize is the lapidicina group. The carapace is relatively wide and short like those of fishing spiders. The posterior eyes form a trapezoid that is wider than tall. The patterns are generally light with fine markings. The eyes are black. The legs are often strongly banded. They are often near water. And, they like sitting on rocks, big or small. They are easily confused with Arctosa littoralis which lack perpendicular spines on tibia IV and have a more closely spaced posterior eye grouping. Both can be found in the same area.
This is a call for Pardosa lapidicina group photo studies of local populations, local meaning within about a 1 acre area. Preferably they should be from the western U.S. and Mexico, but observations from the eastern U.S. and Canada might be useful in the future. Photos should be sharp enough that some of the spines are visible and an occasional ventral view would be appreciated. Any field identifications tips would be very helpful.
Eric
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Prospective/new members: In order for your observations to come up here, I have to add you to a list. I have the option of adding nonmembers to the list, so you may find yourself already on the list. Once I do that, all your North American Pardosa observations will show up under the project. To make your observations searchable for just the lapidicina group you have to put "lapidicina group" in the notes section of each of your observations it applies to. To do that, bring up your observation, click on "Edit" near the upper right and type "lapidicina group" in the notes box. To see just the lapidicina group observations, chose search and set the filter to require "lapidicina group".
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