Group divisions of European Pardosa

The European spiders of the genus Pardosa are particularly difficult to identify given the high number of species and the very subtle differences in their habitus and genital apparatus. However, it is possible to use their taxonomic groups relationships to divide them according to common characteristics.

I created this list in hope that the division by groups could help to narrow their identification down and facilitate the species-level IDs. Hopefully, it will be possible to pinpoint a series of distinctive features for each group, as it was successfully done with the lugubris-complex (https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1404316-Pardosa-lugubris) already.

These group divisions are still not regarded as valid by all taxonomists and most of the times are solely based upon the morphology of pedipalps and epigyne. Because of this, I marked some of the taxa with “(needs to be verified)” when the placement in a group is uncertain and/or refers to now outdated studies of the genus.

This is the second version of the list. I added links to photos of the habitus of males (M) and females (F), I tried to find photos of live specimens, but it's not always possible. When a link is absent, it means that I wasn't able to find any photo of the habitus of that species.
Feel free to add any comments and suggest additions or corrections.

I limited to adding the European species and avoided the ones that are only reported for Russia or Northern Africa. The list comprises 76 species, of which 69 can be divided into 16 taxonomic groups, while the remaining 7 are still in incertae sedis.

AMENTATA-GROUP
amentata M F

BIFASCIATA-GROUP
bifasciata M F
schenkeli M F

FERRUGINEA-GROUP
cavannae M F
ferruginea M F

LAPPONICA-GROUP
cincta M F
lapponica M F
atrata (needs to be verified) M F

LUGUBRIS-GROUP
alacris M F
baehrorum M F
lugubris M F
pertinax M F
saltans M F

MODICA-GROUP
septentrionalis M F

MONTICOLA-GROUP
agrestis M F
agricola M F
albatula M F
blanda M F
buchari M F_(Photo n°3)
consimilis M F
ilgunensis M F
incerta M F
mixta M F
monticola M F
occidentalis M F
olympica M F
palustris M F
plumipes M F
pontica M F
purbeckensis M F
torrentum M F

NEBULOSA-GROUP
gefsana M F
nebulosa M_(on the right) F

NIGRA-GROUP
eiseni M F
giebeli M F
lasciva M F
nigra M F
trailli M F

NIGRICEPS-GROUP
maisa M F
nigriceps M F

PALUDICOLA-GROUP
paludicola M F
sordidata M F

PROXIMA-GROUP
atomaria M F
cribrata M F
hortensis M F
morosa M F
proxima M F
pseudostrigillata M F
roscai M F
tatarica M F
tenuipes M F

PULLATA-GROUP
femoralis M F
fulvipes M F
prativaga M F
pullata M F
pyrenaica M F
riparia M F
sphagnicola M F
tasevi M F

SALTUARIA-GROUP
drenskii M F
evelinae M F
hyperborea M F
oreophila M F
saltuaria M F

VITTATA-GROUP
vittata M F

WAGLERI-GROUP
italica M F
saturatior M F
wagleri M F
luctinosa M F

INCERTAE SEDIS
aenigmatica M F
danica M F
invenusta M F
poecila M F
profuga M F
subalpina M F
thorelli M F

Sources:

• Tongiorgi (1966) Wolf Spiders of the Pardosa monticola group
• Tongiorgi (1968) Su alcuni ragni italiani della famiglia Lycosidae
• Wunderlich (1984) Seltene und bisher unbekannte Wolfspinnen aus Mitteleuropa und Revision der Pardosa saltuaria – Gruppe
• Chiarle, Kronestedt, Isaia (2013) Courtship behavior in European species of the genus Pardosa
• Isaia, Kronestedt, Ballarin, Chiarle (2018) On the morphological separation of two sibling species: Pardosa proxima (P. vlijmi syn. nov.) and P. tenuipes
• Zyuzin (1979) A taxonomic study of Palearctic spiders of the genus Pardosa
• Kronestedt, Marusik, Omelko (2014) Studies on species of Holarctic Pardosa groups (Araneae, Lycosidae). VIII. The Palearctic species of the Pardosa nigra group
• Kronestedt (2007) A new species of wolf spider from the Pyrenees, with remarks on other species in the Pardosa pullata-group
• Kronestedt (1999) A new species in the Pardosa lugubris group from Central Europe
• Kronestedt (1986) Studies on species of Holarctic Pardosa groups (Araneae, Lycosidae). III. Redescriptions of Pardosa algens (Kulczyński), P. septentrionalis (Westring), and P. sodalis Holm.
• Holm, Kronestedt (1970) A taxonomic study of the Pardosa pullata-group
• Alderweireldt, Jocqué (1992) A review of the nebulosa-group of Pardosa Koch 1847 in Africa, a complex with some highly variable species
• Marusik, Ballarin, Omelko (2012) On the Pardosa monticola-species group from Iran, Zoology in the Middle East

Posted on August 09, 2022 05:20 PM by esant