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BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
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Photo#132785
Pardosa

Pardosa
West Point on the Eno Park, Durham County, North Carolina, USA
Size: 12 mm
This spider darted across the water surface and hid behind a rock in mid-stream. I removed the rock carefully and got some photos. Body size estimated at something like 10-12 mm.

Thanks for help on identification--see discussion below.

Images of this individual: tag all
Pardosa Pardosa

Moved
Moved from Spiders.
Looks like the stone spider.

Definitely Dolomedes
My guess is either D. albineus or D. tenebrosus. I'm still learning my spiders from a friend in the department, but I'd say it has the overall look of those two, at least to me. Also, there are images of both of those species from NC in the guide. I only recently discovered the cool maps available with the "Data" tab at the top...they're pretty nifty. Am I close with one of those two species, anyone?

 
Pardosa maybe
Looks more like a wolf spider to me.

 
Uncertainty
Ben, you've got me doubting myself now. ;) I'm by no means a spider expert, and I *used* to get Lycosids and Pisaurids mixed up all the time. Looks like I might be doing it again...I need to hit my spider pals up for a refresher course. If it is a Lycosid, based on the info provided in the pic, Pardosa milvina perhaps? I think that's the species that always throws me off. What is the easiest way to distinguish the eye arrangements in the two families? I've looked at these images of
Lycosid


and
Pisaurid (Dolomedes)

eye arrangements, and i just can't work out the difference, as I know the posterior lateral eyes in Lycosids are round, and the shape in the above thumbnail is just a matter of perspective. Is it just that in Lycosids the posterior eyes are much larger relative to the anterior eyes? I was thinking maybe something about the curvature of the anterior eye row, but in Pisaurina


the anterior row's curvature is similar to that of Lycosids. Anyone have any helpful hints to avoid similar future confusion?

 
Now agreeing with Ben
After some digging, I guess I answered my own question. On A Key To Spider Families, it says of the eyes of Lycosidae "posterior row of eyes so strongly recurved that it may be considered to form two rows," which I'd say is pretty distinct in the image. I feel like a putz for my earlier "definitely Dolomedes" comment...but hey, I'm much more of a vert guy.

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