Pardosa C. L. Koch, 1847

Omelko, Mikhail M., 2024, New data on wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Laos, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 72, pp. 235-251 : 237-238

Pardosa C. L. Koch, 1847

Type species. Lycosa alacris C. L. Koch, 1833 , from Europe.

Comments. Pardosa is the largest genus of wolf spiders ( Lycosidae ), comprising 528 species ( WSC, 2024). The genus has a worldwide distribution. Pardosa is undoubtedly a polyphyletic genus ( Marusik & Ballarin, 2011; Wang & Zhang, 2014). Based on the study of Palearctic species, the genus was divided by Zyuzin (1979) into 22 species groups. The Pardosa nebulosa -group is one of the largest, yet poorly studied, species groups. Spiders of this group predominantly inhabit the southern Palearctic, Afrotropical, and Indomalayan regions. The group’s size is estimated differently by various authors. Initially, this group included only five species ( Zyuzin, 1979). Later, this number was expanded to 23–26 species ( Esyunin et al., 2007). Finally, Marusik & Ballarin (2011) reported the highest number of species for this group – “at least 66 species”. However, these authors did not provide a list of species they included in the group. In my calculations, this group can confidently include the following 37 species. From Africa: Pardosa alticola Alderweireldt & Jocqué, 1992 , P. evanescens Alderweireldt & Jocqué, 2008 , P. gefsana Roewer, 1959 , P. injucunda (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876) , P. kavango Alderweireldt & Jocqué, 1992 , P. lusingana Roewer, 1959 , P. messingerae ( Strand, 1916) , P. naevia (L. Koch, 1875) , P. nostrorum Alderweireldt & Jocqué, 1992 , and P. thompsoni Alderweireldt & Jocqué, 1992 . From Asia: Pardosa apostoli Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 , P. burasantiensis Tikader & Malhotra, 1976 (here referring to spiders known by this name from China; Indian P. burasantiensis were transferred to Draposa ( Dhali et al., 2012)) , P. caliraya Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 , P. chambaensis Tikader & Malhotra, 1976 , P. chapini ( Fox, 1935) , P. dabiensis Chai & Yang, 1998 in Yang & Chai, 1998, P. flata Qu, Peng & Yin, 2010 , P. flavisterna Caporiacco, 1935 , P. irriensis Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 , P. jambaruensis Tanaka, 1990 , P. latibasa Qu, Peng & Yin, 2010 , P. mionebulosa Yin, Peng, Xie, Bao & Wang, 1997 , P. nebulosa ( Thorell, 1872) , P. oriens ( Chamberlin, 1924) , P. parathompsoni Wang & Zhang, 2014 , P. patapatensis Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 , P. pseudochapini Peng, 2011 , P. pusiola ( Thorell, 1891) , P. rhenockensis ( Tikader, 1970) , P. shyamae ( Tikader, 1970) , P. songosa Tikader & Malhotra, 1976 , P. sumatrana ( Thorell, 1890) , P. takahashii ( Saito, 1936) , P. tschekiangiensis Schenkel, 1963 , P. tuberosa Wang & Zhang, 2014 , P. warayensis Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 , and P. zhui Yu & Song, 1988 . In addition to the listed species, one species from the nebulosa -group was described from Taiwan but not formally named ( Tso & Chen, 2004). Thus, species of the nebulosa -group are distributed mainly in the tropics and subtropics, while Pardosa nebulosa itself is known from the Palaearctic, from Western Europe to China.

Initially, Zyuzin (1979) included in this group species which have females that possess an anchor-shaped septum, and males with a horizontal, semi-transparent tegular apophysis. Later, Marusik & Ballarin (2011) expanded the original diagnosis by adding the following characteristics: 1) the inner side of the tegular apophysis has a furrow, 2) apical arm of the tegular apophysis absent, 3) the subtegulum large, shifted to the prolateral side, 4) posterior part of the palea with a lamina (peak), 5) embolus starting behind the bulbus, 6) cymbium with two claws.

The Pardosa nebulosa -group has never been globally revised. Some species in the group are known only from the original descriptions, and most species have never been thoroughly redescribed. For most species, the structure of the embolic division of the bulbs and the shape of the terminal apophysis are not illustrated.