Sosippus

Abstract: The male of the Florida funnel-web building wolf spider species Sosippus placidus Brady 1972 is described and figured for the first time. Analysis of the male palp's morphological structure reveals that Sosippus possesses a median apophysis like other members of the Araneoclada, but which of the three additional tegular apophyses is the conductor cannot be determined at present. The study demonstrates that the palea, the putative key apomorphy of the clade Venoniinae-Allocosinae-Pardosinae-Lycosinae requires further morphological analysis. The genus Porrimosa is a close relative of the genus Sosippus based on shared characters in the male palp. The ontogeny of the female copulatory organs of Sosippus agrees with that of other members in the RTA clade. Hippasella nitida Mello-Leitao 1944, placed by Capocasale (1990) in the genus Sosippus, is not recognized as a congener.

Abstract: The systematic status of the wolf spider genus Sosippus Simon 1888 is reviewed. Males of four species: S. placidus Brady 1972, S. janus Brady 1972, S. michoacanus Brady 1962 and S. agalenoides Banks 1909 are described and fully illustrated for the first time. A cladistic analysis based upon twelve morphological characters resulted in two distinct species-groups within Sosippus. One species-group of the genus occurs from Georgia and Florida in the southeastern United States, westward along the Gulf Coast to south Texas. A second species-group occurs in Arizona and California, and is found in Mexico and Central America as far south as Costa Rica. A new key to the ten species of Sosippus now recognized is presented and updated to include male characters and other features. Collections and observations since earlier studies have provided new information about the social behavior and more widespread distribution of Sosippus janus. Maps have been reconstructed to update the ranges of all species. A pre...

Abstract: Studies into the systematics of wolf spiders have mainly employed morphological char- acters of adult spiders, in particular features of the male and female genitalia, and more recently mito- chondrial DNA sequence data. However, there is still no established phylogenetic framework for the Lycosidae, even at the subfamily level. This study uses a novel morphological character set, the chaetotaxy of lycosid larvae (presence and arrangement of setae and slit organs), to infer systematic information on seven species of wolf spiders that are currently listed in three subfamilies: Lycosinae ( Alopecosa pulver- ulenta (Clerck 1757), Hogna antelucana (Montgomery 1904), Rabidosa rabida (Walckenaer 1837), Tro- chosa ruricola (DeGeer 1778)), Piratinae (Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata (Ohlert 1865), Pirata hygrophilus (Clerck 1757)), and Sosippinae (Sosippus californicus Simon 1898). Cheliceral and tarsal (legs I and II) chaetotaxic patterns of the first postembryo showed equivalent chaetotaxic complexes amongst all species but revealed considerable differences between representatives of the three subfamilies. Sosippus califor- nicus showed the most complex pattern and P. piraticus the most reduced arrangement. In addition, it casts doubt on the previous listings of H. rubrofasciata in either the Lycosinae or Piratinae, as its chae- totaxic setae arrangement was more similar to S. californicus than to any other species investigated here.