Ubiquitous Thin-legged Wolf Spider
Pardosa xerampelina
This record describes Pardosa xerampelina (species). Recorded family: Lycosidae. Recorded order: Araneae.
Identification and Appearance
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Female | epigyne |
| Male | In Alberta there are two color morphs that appear quite different from each other (the palp for each specimen is directly below its picture): left palp, ventral view ( P. xerampelina ) ....... Some Pardosa xerampelina males may look similar to P. altamontis . Rod Crawfod explains how to tell them apart : ...the color of the male palps in Pardosa sp. is rather species-specific. Notice how the basal palp segments in P. altamontis are yellow. The front legs also are much more yellow than your specimen. And P. altamontis is mainly an eastern Wash. species - the western Wash. vicariant is P. vancouveri ... |
Wikipedia reference for Pardosa xerampelina: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardosa xerampelina.
Classification
About Spiders: the wider group
Order-level background for Araneae, the group containing Pardosa xerampelina. Species-specific details appear above.
Group overview
As of 2023, 51,673 spider species in 136 families have been recorded, though an estimated 150,000 species exist. Spiders rank 7th in total species diversity among all organism orders. Only 0.5% of spider species pose any risk to human health.
Ecological role of the group
Spider venom contains complex peptides with diverse pharmacological activities, making them valuable for drug development research. Spiders produce up to 7 types of silk from specialized glands. Spider silk genes have been inserted into mammals and plants for biotech applications.
Economic and practical significance of the group
The global spider community kills an estimated 400-800 million tons of prey annually (2017 study). Spiders provide billions of dollars in natural pest control for agriculture. Spider silk is 5× stronger than steel of the same diameter, driving a biomaterials research industry.
Recorded sources for this group: World Spider Catalog, PNAS, Nature, ScienceDirect. Imported estimates may describe particular regions or reporting periods.
Photos of Ubiquitous Thin-legged Wolf Spider (5)
Photo credits: (c) cheins1, all rights reserved, uploaded by cheins1 | (c) Jared Shorma, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Jared Shorma | (c) Andree Reno Sanborn, all rights reserved, uploaded by Andree Reno Sanborn | (c) BIO Photography Group, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA) | Contributed by Lynette Elliott; Additional contributions by jsloan