Wadicosa

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Wadicosa
Wadicosa.okinawensis.female.1.-.tanikawa.jpg
W. okinawensis, female
Wadicosa fidelis 254312062.jpg
W. fidelis from Thailand
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Lycosidae
Genus: Wadicosa
Zyuzin, 1985
Type species
Wadicosa fidelis
(O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872)
Species

See text

Diversity
19 species

Wadicosa is a genus of wolf spiders, with 19 described species found from the Canary Islands to Indonesia. [1]

Contents

Etymology

The genus name Wadicosa is derived from the Arabic word واد "wadi" (meaning a dry riverbed or seasonal watercourse in arid regions) combined with the suffix "-cosa" commonly used in wolf spider genera (which are variations of Lycosa , from Greek λύκος "wolf"). [2] This name reflects the characteristic habitat preference of these spiders for dried-up riverbeds with clay deposits in desert and semi-desert regions. [2]

Description

Wadicosa are medium-sized wolf spiders with a carapace length of 2.7–3.0 mm. They are characterized by having 2-2 ventral spines on the tibia and metatarsus of the first leg (not counting apical spines), and 3 teeth on the posterior margin of the cheliceral furrow. The distance between the anterior median eyes is 2.5–5.0 times greater than the distance between the median and lateral eyes of the same row. [2]

Males have distinctive palpal structures with strongly sclerotized tegular processes directed outward, and a relatively large subtegulum displaced to the inner side of the bulbus. The abdomen displays a dark lanceolate spot dorsally with a series of light spots. [2]

Habitat and distribution

Species of Wadicosa are distributed in desert and semi-desert regions of the Palearctic realm. They are characteristic inhabitants of dried-up riverbeds (wadis) with clay deposits and are also found on clay riverbanks. They are active during daylight hours. [2]

Species

As of October 2025, this genus includes nineteen species: [1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Genus Wadicosa". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2 . Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Zyuzin, A.A. (1985). "Generic and subfamilial criteria in the systematics of the spider family Lycosidae (Aranei), with the description of a new genus and two new subfamilies". Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta Akademii Nauk SSSR, Leningrad. 139: 40–51.