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Photo#351189
Mexican Lycosid  - Rabidosa santrita - male

Mexican Lycosid - Rabidosa santrita - Male
Cajon Bonito, Sonora, MX - voucher specimen
November 11, 2009
Size: 16mm
Location: N31º17.458' W109º02.716', elev. 4089'.
These spiders appeared in vast number at Rancho de Diablo. My guess is Rabidosa. Please let me know if there are other angles/views that would make an ID more attainable.

Images of this individual: tag all
Mexican Lycosid  - Rabidosa santrita - male Mexican Lycosid for FRASS - Rabidosa santrita - male Mexican Lycosid for FRASS - Rabidosa santrita - male Mexican Lycosid  - Rabidosa santrita - male Mexican Lycosid  - Rabidosa santrita - male Mexican Lycosid  - Rabidosa santrita - male Mexican Lycosid  - Rabidosa santrita - male Mexican Lycosid  - Rabidosa santrita - male

Response from Allan Brady
I heard back from Allan Brady this week regarding this specimen. Based on the images and comments here, he agrees with the determination: Rabidosa santrita. He writes that both R. rabida and R. santrita do extend into Mexico, at least as far as Costa Rica (possibly extending along the coast lines), and that there may well be a third Neotropical species. He writes, "More specimens are needed from Mexico and Central America to clarify the identity of the species found there."

He also supports the idea of including specimens from througout the Nearctic region, which would include parts of northern Mexico; this represents a more natural boundary than does the Rio Grande.


-Kevin

Moved
I know this specimen is from Mexico, but these are great images and we do have this species in the US. The date and location won't show on the data map, and I didn't want to lose these images which will be valuable for helping ID this species in the future.

New pictures
added.

 
No question on my part about
No question on my part about the species determination. Thanks for the additional images.

-K

R. santrita?
Brady (1994) reports a "new combination" (what does that mean, BTW?), Rabidosa santrita (Chamberlin & Ivie) that is most similar to R. rabida in size and dorsal pattern.

Brady writes that the males can be distinguished from R. rabida "by the black color on leg I of R. rabida, which extends from distal end of the femur to the tip of the tarsus." They are also separated geographically (R. rabida - eastern US as far west as Texas; R. santrita - Arizona, particularly southeastern corner), but Brady also adds that the range of R. santrita has not yet been determined.

So, it would be nice to see a true dorsal habitus image (particularly a clear view of the abdomen), as well as a clear view of the first pair of legs, particularly "from the distal end of the femur to the tip of the tarsus". I also wouldn't mind seeing another view or two of the palp. This ventral view is slightly off-axis -- the palp is tilted towards us slightly. A true ventral view would be nice, as well as a lateral view (from the right side here).

BTW, here is a link to the Brady article.

-Kevin

 
"New combination"
That just means (in this case) the combination of the specific epithet with a new genus: it was described as Lycosa santrita by Chamberlin & Ivie, but this was the first publication of it as Rabidosa santrita

 
Thanks, Chuck. I've now looke
Thanks, Chuck. I've now looked at other male R. rabida specimens in BG and it seems clear that this is not R. rabida. It's also not R. punctulata, which has an embolus that is "flattened and blade-like".

-K

Correction to my previous comment, which I can no longer edit: the article is by Brady and McKinley. (Sorry, Mr/Ms. McKinley)

I'll take a look at the palp
I'll take a look at the palp later today. Where is Cajon Bonito? As far as I can tell, it's directly across the border -- certainly no reason to frass useful images of a species that occurs in a geographically contiguous region that lies at least in part above the border. I don't know what BG policy is, but perhaps there should be or is a buffer zone for such situations?

-K

Follow-up...

BG policy does seem to allow a tiny bit of room for such situations: it "primarily covers bugs occurring in America North of Mexico". Given that this species 1) occurs above the border, 2) represents a specimen from the contiguous region (as opposed to Hawaii or Cuba), and 3)offers useful and additional information about the species, my recommendation would be to keep the images.

-K

R. punctulata
maybe. It would be nice to see a clear shot of the abdomen markings (dorsal).

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