Melecosa Explained

Melecosa is a genus of spiders in the family Lycosidae. Its lone species is found in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China.[1]

The species was first described in 2004 by Marusik, Azarkina, and Koponen as Sibirocosa alpina, then transferred into its own genus in 2015.

This spider has a body length of up to 5.75 mm and has shorter legs than other Sibirocosa species. It is distinctively marked: the front of the cephalothorax (where the eyes are located) is black with two longitudinal brown stripes; the carapace is brown with paler stripes; the abdomen is blackish with a broad brown stripe down the middle. The legs have pale rings and differ from other Sibirocosa species by having a smaller number (3 vs. 4) of ventral tibial spines.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lycosidae. World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. 2017-04-05.
  2. Marusik . Yuri M. . Azarkina . Galina N. . Koponen . Seppo . 2003 . A Survey of East Palaearctic Lycosidae (Aranei). II. Acantholycosa F. Dahl, 1908 and related new genera . Arthropoda Selecta . 12 . 2 . 101–148 . 2017-08-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120225221233/http://szmn.sbras.ru/persons/azarkina/Marusik_et_al2004Acantholycosa_AS.pdf . 2012-02-25 . dead .