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Genus Rabidosa

Rabidosa hentzi - female striped wolf spider - Rabidosa rabida Found in the master tub - Rabidosa rabida Rabidosa Dotted Wolf Spider? - Rabidosa punctulata Rabidosa rabida? - Rabidosa rabida - female Large wolf spider with dark front legs - Rabidosa rabida Lycosid - Rabidosa rabida
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Infraorder Araneomorphae (True Spiders)
No Taxon (Entelegynae)
Family Lycosidae (Wolf Spiders)
Genus Rabidosa
Explanation of Names
The genus name was formed by adding -osa to the species name for which the genus is based, rabida (Lycosa rabida).(1)
Numbers
5 species in bugguide's range.
Identification
The following images are being used to match the drawings and information from the paper by Brady & McKinley, 1994: Nearctic Species of the Wolf Spider Genus Rabidosa.

Rabidosa rabida - Look for the white 'spots' inside the posterior portion of the dark abdominal stripe. Males of this species have dark brown/black front legs.


Rabidosa santrita - Found in the southwest US (unlike the other species in the genus). Look for the horizontal lines through the posterior portion of the abdominal stripe.


Rabidosa punctulata - Venter of abdomen very pale brownish yellow (beige) with few-to-many scattered, variably-sized dark spots. Occasionally the venter is all dark brown or black.(2) Most confused with Rabidosa rabida and Rabidosa carrana.


Rabidosa carrana - Most confused with Rabidosa punctulata.


Rabidosa hentzi - Look for the 'dots' around the carapace edge and at the edges of the abdominal stripe which separate this species from the others. In closer images, rings of red can often be seen surrounding the posterior eyes.


It may also be possible to separate adult female R. rabida from R. punctulata by looking at subtle differences in the appearance of the legs, see the discussion here.
Range
Species and ranges from kaston.transy.edu and Brady 1994.(2)

Rabidosa carrana (Bryant, 1934) peninsular FL, coastal GA & NC

Rabidosa hentzi (Banks, 1904) FL, GA, LA, NC
Images of R. hentzi on BugGuide and iNaturalist indicate a range of AR, AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MO, MS, NC, OK, TX, VA

Rabidosa punctulata (Hentz, 1844) AL, AR, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA

Rabidosa rabida (Walckenaer, 1837) AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV; ON

Rabidosa santrita (Chamberlin & Ivie, 1942) AZ
Season
In areas where both Rabidosa rabida and Rabidosa punctulata are found, accounts from the scientific literature (2)(3) indicate they can be separated by when mature adults and egg sacs/babies are found.

Rabidosa rabida matures during early summer and midsummer. Mating and egg sac construction occurs in midsummer and early fall, and thus mature female Rabidosa rabida with babies can be seen in the fall, with juveniles overwintering to finish maturation in the next calendar year.

Rabidosa punctulata matures and mates in the fall. Fertilized females overwinter and construct egg sacs in the the spring (sometimes earlier, in late winter), with babies emerging from the egg sac about a month after the eggs are laid.

However, it is not entirely certain if the timing of the Rabidosa punctulata life cycle could be affected in regions where sufficiently cold winters are not experienced, as Eason and Whitcomb(3) note that female R. punctulata kept in a temperature-controlled laboratory constructed their egg sacs as early as November.
Life Cycle
Eason and Whitcomb (3) noted that Rabidosa punctulata can create another egg sac after the spiderlings from the first egg sac have grown enough to become independent, resulting in up to 3 distinct broods of young per mother.

They also note that the blue coloration seen in Rabidosa punctulata egg sacs is due to a dark-colored liquid generated by the mother that is applied to the egg sac. Presumably a similar process causes the blue coloration seen in egg sacs of other lycosoid species.
Works Cited
1.Spiders of North America: An Identification Manual
D. Ubick, P. Paquin, P.E. Cushing and V. Roth (eds). 2005. American Arachnological Society.
2.Nearctic Species of the Wolf Spider Genus Rabidosa
Allen R. Brady and Kelly S. McKinley'. 1994. The Journal of Arachnology 22 :138—16.
3.Life History of the Dotted Wolf Spider, Lycosa punctulata Hentz (Araneida: Lycosidae)
Eason, R. R. & Whitcomb, W. H. 1965. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 19: 11-20.