Allocosa aurata

Barberton Allocosa Wolf Spider
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Lycosidae
Genus:	Allocosa
Species:	A. aurata
Binomial name
	Allocosa aurata; (Purcell, 1903)
Synonyms
	Lycosa aurataPurcell, 1903 ;

Last updated October 03, 2025

Allocosa aurata is a species of spider in the family Lycosidae.^[2] It is endemic to South Africa and is commonly known as the Barberton Allocosa wolf spider.^[3]

Distribution

Allocosa aurata is known from four provinces of South Africa: Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga.^[3]

Habitat and ecology

The species is a free running ground-dweller sampled from the Savanna Biome at altitudes ranging from 563 to 1816 m.^[3]

Description

Conservation

Allocosa aurata is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographical range. The species is protected in the Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve.^[3]

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by Purcell in 1903 from Barberton in Mpumalanga.^[1] The species was revised by Roewer in 1959 and is known only from the female.^[3]

References

1 2 Purcell, W.F. (1903). "New South African spiders of the families Migidae, Ctenizidae, Barychelidae, Dipluridae, and Lycosidae". Annals of the South African Museum. 3: 69–142.
1 2 "Allocosa aurata (Purcell, 1903)". Natural History Museum Bern. World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 2025-10-01.
1 2 3 4 5 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2021). The Lycosidae of South Africa. Version 1: part 1 (A-H). South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 7. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6324709. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[purcell1903-1] 1 2 Purcell, W.F. (1903). "New South African spiders of the families Migidae, Ctenizidae, Barychelidae, Dipluridae, and Lycosidae". Annals of the South African Museum. 3: 69–142.

[wsc-2] 1 2 "Allocosa aurata (Purcell, 1903)". Natural History Museum Bern. World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 2025-10-01.

[dippenaar2021-3] 1 2 3 4 5 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2021). The Lycosidae of South Africa. Version 1: part 1 (A-H). South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 7. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6324709. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

[1]

[2]

[3]