Wadicosa oncka

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Oncka's Pardosa wolf spider
Wadicosa oncka 310129906 559696190.jpg
Male
Wadicosa oncka 310129906 559696455.jpg
Male
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Lycosidae
Genus: Wadicosa
Species:
W. oncka
Binomial name
Wadicosa oncka
(Lawrence, 1927) [1]
Synonyms
  • Pardosa resolutaRoewer, 1959
  • Pardosa kisokweaRoewer, 1959
  • Pardosa witteiRoewer, 1959
  • Pardosa irrasaRoewer, 1959
  • Pardosa versutaRoewer, 1959

Wadicosa oncka is a species of spider in the family Lycosidae. [2] It is found throughout Africa and is commonly known as Oncka's Pardosa wolf spider. [3]

Contents

Distribution

Wadicosa oncka is found widely throughout Africa. [2]

In South Africa, it is recorded from Lesotho and six provinces at altitudes ranging from 7 to 2066 m. Localities include Dwesa Nature Reserve in the Eastern Cape, several sites in Gauteng including Pretoria and Roodeplaatdam Nature Reserve, Margate and Kosi Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, Levubu and Tshipise in Limpopo, Barberton and Sabie in Mpumalanga, and Swartberg Nature Reserve in the Western Cape. [3]

Habitat and ecology

Wadicosa oncka is a free-living ground dweller sampled from the Grassland, Fynbos, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, Savanna, and Thicket biomes. It has also been sampled from lychee orchards and strawberry fields. [3]

Description

Conservation

Wadicosa oncka is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographical range. It is protected in Dwesa Nature Reserve, Roodeplaatdam Nature Reserve, and Swartberg Nature Reserve. [3]

Taxonomy

Wadicosa oncka was originally described by Lawrence in 1927 as Pardosa oncka from Namibia. The species was revised by Kronestedt (2015), who transferred it to the genus Wadicosa, and is known from both sexes. Several species described by Roewer (1959) have been synonymized with this species. [3] [4]

References

  1. ↑ Lawrence, R.F. (1927). "Contributions to a knowledge of the fauna of South-West Africa V. Arachnida". Annals of the South African Museum. 25 (1): 1–75.
  2. 1 2 "Wadicosa oncka (Lawrence, 1927)". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  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 2 (L-Z). South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 76. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6324723. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  4. ↑ Kronestedt, T. (2015). "Species of Wadicosa (Araneae, Lycosidae): transfer of two species from Pardosa and description of three new species from Africa". European Journal of Taxonomy. 132: 1–19. doi:10.5852/ejt.2015.132.
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