The Wolf
Spiders (Araneae, Lycosidae) of Australia
(c) by Volker W. Framenau (Department
of Terrestrial Invertebrates, Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, W.
A. 6986)
Welcome to my website introducing the wolf spider fauna (Lycosidae) of Australia! The aim of this work is twofold:
- Provide an overview over the current systematic status
of wolf spiders in Australia as a base for future taxonomic work.
- Facilitate
identification of species through a compilation of all
available illustrations of which many are very difficult to obtain. Some
are very old (pre 1900) and/or published in local museum journals, which
are sometimes hard to come by. Nevertheless, in addition to a comparison
with type specimens (of which the collections are also listed here - if
known), these illustrations provide the only way to identify some of the
currently recognized species. For some recently described species, I have not been able to compile an illustrated page yet. However, please send me an email [volker (dot) framenau (at) museum (dot) wa (dot) gov (dot) au] and I will send you a pdf-file of the respective publication with illustrations immediately!
The list contains three main
parts:
- A compilation of data for each species currently recognized in
Australia, which can be accessed by the 'Species list' link in
the left window. Each species page contains taxonomic information,
illustrations of the species (if available) and in some cases data on its
biology. Some genera are also introduced.
- A compilation of data on synonyms, nomina dubia and replacement names.
If you can't find a suspected Australian wolf spider in the species list,
have a look here!
- A bibliography with all relevant references
to Australian wolf spider taxonomy, systematics and ecology.
In addition, there is a short history
and overview of Australian wolf spider taxonomy containing
information on the number of currently recognized species and genera.
Unfortunately, the Australian wolf spider taxonony is still in its infancy and
it is not possible to provide a species key. This is partly due to C. F.
Roewer's taxonomic work in the 1950s and 1960s, which resulted in a generic
placement of species, which does not represent their phylogenetic relationships.
The nomenclature of 'The Wolf Spiders of
Australia' is based on Platnick's online 'The World Spider Catalog'. The bibliographic indices of
references by the same author in the same year also follow Platnick and
the importance of this catalogue in compiling my list cannot be underestimated.
Please have a look at the acknowledgements, as this work would
not have been possible without the support of many collegues, friends and
scientific journals.
Last, but not least: I am grateful for all e-mails [volker (dot) framenau (at) museum (dot) wa (dot) gov (dot) au]
with comments on the list. In particular, let me know if you like it, or if you
find mistakes!
(c) Volker W.
Framenau, 2010
Startpage of ‘The
Wolf Spiders (Araneae, Lycosidae) of Australia’
Homepage V. W. Framenau
Latest change: 30 March
2010