Pardosa laura | |
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female with spiderlings | |
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male from Hong Kong | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Araneae |
Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
Family: | Lycosidae |
Genus: | Pardosa |
Species: | P. laura |
Binomial name | |
Pardosa laura Karsch, 1879 | |
Synonyms | |
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Pardosa laura is a species of wolf spider in the family Lycosidae. It has a widespread distribution across East Asia. [1]
P. laura is distributed across Russia (Far East), Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan. [1] The species is commonly found in mountainous grassland areas at the foot of hills and mountains. [2]
The species is typically found in grasslands at the base of mountains and hills. [2] It inhabits agricultural areas including rice fields and cotton fields across its range. [3] [4]
Pardosa laura is a medium-sized wolf spider with notable sexual dimorphism in coloration. Adult females measure 4.0–7.2 mm in body length, while males are smaller at 3.7–5.2 mm. [2]
The carapace of females is dark reddish-brown, while males are almost entirely black. The anterior median eyes are slightly larger than the anterior lateral eyes. The clypeus is pale yellowish-brown and wider than the diameter of the anterior median eyes. The maxillae and labium are greyish-brown. [2]
In females, the sternum is pale yellowish-brown with a reddish-brown U-shaped marking in the central area, while in males it is blackish-grey with a narrow yellowish-brown longitudinal stripe in the upper central portion. The dorsal abdomen of females is yellowish-brown with irregular dark brown markings, while males have a reddish-brown abdomen with six pairs of black spots arranged in rows on the posterior half. [2]
The legs are generally yellowish-brown with ring patterns visible from the femur to the tibia, except for the whitish-yellow coxae and the dark brown tips of the first leg patellae. The pedipalps are dark brown except for the yellowish-brown patella, with white hairs at the tip of the femur and base of the patella, and numerous black hairs at the tip of the tibia. [2]
Adult females can be found from May to mid-September, while males have a shorter active period from May to early July. Egg sac formation occurs in July. [2]
The species was first described by Friedrich Karsch in 1879 based on material from Japan. [5] The taxonomic history of P. laura is complex, with several species names that have been synonymized with it over time, including Tarentula palus Dönitz & Strand, 1906, Pirata longipedis Saito, 1939, and Pardosa diversa Tanaka, 1985. [1]
Type specimens are housed in the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt am Main, Germany (fragments) and the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany (syntypes). [1]