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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Chelicerates (Chelicerata) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Entelegynae » Wolf Spiders (Lycosidae) » Funnel-Web Wolf Spiders (Sosippus)

Genus Sosippus - Funnel-Web Wolf Spiders

Classification · Pronunciation · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Print References · Works Cited

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 Sosippus (Funnel-Web Wolf Spiders)

Pronunciation

so-SIP-uhs

SO-si-puhs(1)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Here

Explanation of Names

Simon, 1888(2)

Greek proper name for 'saving the horses'.(1)

Numbers

6 species in BugGuide's range (North America north of Mexico).

Size

Adults 12-32mm.

Identification

The only wolf spiders in North America that spin a funnel-shaped web.

Range

californicus — Baja California, southern California, Arizona, south to Nayarit in Mexico.(3)

floridanus — southern Georgia and peninsular Florida into the Florida Keys.(4)

janus — North of the Okefenokee Swamp near Waycross, Georgia to northern Florida; usually in mesic environments.(5)

mimus — western Florida to Louisiana.(5)

placidus — Highlands County, Florida.(5)

texanus — southern Texas.(3)

Print References

Brach, V. 1976. "Subsocial behavior in the funnel-web wolf spider Sosippus floridanus (Araneae: Lycosidae)." The Florida Entomologist 59(3): 225-229. FULL TEXT

Sierwald, P. 2000. "Description of the male of Sosippus placidus, with notes on the subfamily Sosippinae (Araneae: Lycosidae)." The Journal of Arachnology 28: 133-140. FULL TEXT

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.	The World Spider Catalog by Norman I. Platnick

3.	The spider genus Sosippus in North America, Mexico, and Central America (Araneae, Lycosidae) Allen Brady. 1962. Psyche, Camb. 69: 129-164.

4.	Geographic variation and speciation in the Sosippus floridanus species group (Araneae: Lycosidae) Allen Brady. 1972. Psyche, Camb. 79: 27-48.

5.	Sosippus revisited: review of a web-building wolf spider genus from the Americas (Araneae, Lycosidae) Allen Brady. 2007. Journal of Arachnology 35: 54-83.

Contributed by Jeff Hollenbeck on 23 November, 2006 - 8:39pm
Additional contributions by Mandy Howe
Last updated 26 August, 2023 - 11:47am

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