The spiders of catherine_g

These got me excited when I first found them at iNat. It was early days in my studies and the images were good quality and numerous. At that time, I had only located one population of lapidicina group spiders myself and was just getting started recording body lengths and ventral views. Now I'm sure enough to do a species ID for them. Although she also observed other Pardosa species, none besides these were in the lapidicina group. Hers are redder than usual, probably as an adaptation to the red rocks in their habitat. You can see a range of appearances. Some have annulated legs, others don't. Some are a lot darker with few markings. This diversity appears typical of most lapidicina group species and obviously makes identification difficult. I've come to believe in identifying them as populations rather than individuals.

Nevertheless, it is possible to find some common characteristics. I've started compiling them and after they are thoroughly tested, I will publish them here. In the matter of lapidicina vs. mercurialis, I'm finding the dorsal color of the trochanter a useful characteristic which shows the importance of good photographs. In addition, I found the dorsal images of specimens preserved in alcohol at BugGuide useful in understanding what I was seeing on the live spiders. Preservation tended to make the hairs transparent so I could see what the surface of the exoskeleton looked like. Hairs get mussed up and knowing what was underneath helped me interpret the patterns better. There were no identified live spider images of mercurialis at BugGuide, so I uploaded a male and a female.

All is not well among the Central Texas lapidicina group spiders. Although most are undoubtably mercurialis, a few I've observed in Bell County don't seem to fit. Going through catherine_g's spiders where there was apparently only one species will help me decide whether they are a different species or not. Pardosa vadosa has been reported in Central Texas, and I always worry about P. sura since there is no trustworthy range or photo for that species.

Posted on Αύγουστος 12, 2021 0745 ΜΜ by eaneubauer eaneubauer

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