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Pardosa moesta Banks, 1892

	FAMILY: LYCOSIDAE Sundevall, 1833     Genus: Pardosa C. L. Koch, 1847         Species: Pardosa moesta Banks, 1892
	Author: Frost, Carol Page views: 1,426 Write a Review: Visitor Comments: (1)

General Comments: This is a widespread species from Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador, south to Utah, Colorado, and Tennessee. Large catches are often made in pitfall traps in forest clearings, meadows, hayfields, marshes, bogs, and urban lawns.

Family Common Name:  wolf spiders
Genus Common Name:  thinlegged wolf spiders
Species Common Name:  none

Global Distribution: USA, Canada, Alaska
Nearctic States & Provinces: (from the Nearctic Spider Database)   AB ON QC AK CO CT NH
Collection Locales Mapped by Year Collected: (from the Nearctic Spider Database)

Specimen Search Specimen list 176, 142

Feeding Guild:^† ground runners
^†Feeding guild when noted defined by Uetz, G. W., J. Halaj, and A. B. Cady. 1999. Guild structure of spiders in major crops. Journal of Arachnology 27:270-280. PDF
Recorded Habitats: meadows, hayfields, marshes, bogs, urban lawns, tidal beach drift, deciduous and coniferous forests
Life & Natural History: Males have been collected from May to August and females from May to October. Egg sacs have been collected from May to mid October. One density estimate in a central Alberta deciduous forest was 0.88 females per square metre (Buddle, 2000). In the same study of density, fecundity and life cycle of Pardosa moesta, males and females were found to be most active from mid May to early June, especially on warm days. First instar juveniles weighed 0.45 +/- 0.03 mg in mid July, and gained 2.8 times their weight by September. Pardosa moesta has a two-year life cycle in Alberta (Buddle, 2000) and in Newfoundland (Pickavance, 2001), but may have a shorter, one-year life cycle in the more southerly parts of its range. Pardosa moesta made up 35% of the spiders collected in pitfall traps near a meadow pond in central Alberta (Graham et al., 2003), with highest capture rates between 2 m and 10 m from the shore, and one specimen even caught on the water surface in a floating pitfall trap! This spider is an open-habitat specialist, and increases in abundance following disturbances, such as forest fire or harvesting, which open up the forest canopy (Buddle et al., 2000). Pardosa moesta tends to prefer younger stands.

Seasonality of Specimen Records: (from the Nearctic Spider Database - Requires Flash plug-in - refresh this page if not visible)

Image(s) of Habitus:

Description: Carapace is dark reddish-brown, shiny, with several black lines radiating from the dorsal groove. The eye area is dark and the median and submarginal bands are absent. Lateral margins of the carapace fringed with white setae. Chelicerae are dark orange. Sternum is dark reddish-brown. Legs are dark orange and paler distally. Femur I and II sometimes with dark, longitudinal streaks. Femora III and IV sometimes with faint annulations. Abdomen dull reddish, mottled with black and brown (Dondale & Redner, 1990).

Male Dimensions: A = 2.51 mm  A+B = 4.95 mm  C = 1.82 mm

Image of External Male Genitalia: Credit: Frost, Carol

Description: Coloration much the same as male but carapace with faint median and submarginal bands. Legs often lack dark markings seen in males (Dondale & Redner, 1990).

Female Dimensions: A = 2.55 mm  A+B = 5.64 mm  C = 1.91 mm

Image of Epigynum: Credit: Frost, Carol

Descriptions Source:
Dondale, C. D. & J. H. Redner. 1990. The insects and arachnids of Canada, Part 17. The wolf spiders, nurseryweb spiders, and lynx spiders of Canada and Alaska, Araneae: Lycosidae, Pisauridae, and Oxyopidae. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Publ. 1856: 1-383.

Pardosa moesta Banks 1892 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2069111

Pardosa moesta Chamberlin 1908 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2069112

Pardosa diffusa Emerton 1909 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2069113

Pardosa moesta Kaston 1948 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2069114

Pardosa moesta Dondale & Redner 1987 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2069115

Pardosa moesta Dondale & Redner 1990 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2069116

Pardosa moesta Paquin & Dupérré 2003 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:2011348

Pardosa moesta Vogel 2004 urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:9738332

Banks, N. 1892. The spider fauna of the Upper Cayuga Lake Basin. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad. 1892: 11-81.

Chamberlin, R. V. 1908. Revision of North American spiders of the family Lycosidae. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad. 60: 158-318.

Dondale, C. D. & J. H. Redner. 1990. The insects and arachnids of Canada, Part 17. The wolf spiders, nurseryweb spiders, and lynx spiders of Canada and Alaska, Araneae: Lycosidae, Pisauridae, and Oxyopidae. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Publ. 1856: 1-383.

Dondale, C. D. & J. H. Redner. 1987. The atrata, cubana, ferruginea, moesta, monticola, saltuaria, and solituda groups of the spider genus Pardosa in North America (Araneae: Lycosidae). Can. Ent. 119: 1-19.

Emerton, J. H. 1909. Supplement to the New England Spiders. Trans. Connect. Acad. Arts Sci. 14: 171-236.

Kaston, B. J. 1948. Spiders of Connecticut. Bull. Conn. St. geol. nat. Hist. Surv. 70: 1-874.

Paquin, P. & N. Dupérré. 2003. Guide d'identification des araignées de Québec. Fabreries, Suppl. 11 1-251.

Vogel, B. R. 2004. A review of the spider genera Pardosa and Acantholycosa (Araneae, Lycosidae) of the 48 contiguous United States. J. Arachnol. 32: 55-108.

^‡Nomenclature and taxonomic references from the World Spider Catalog

Buddle, C. M. 2000. Life history of Pardosa moesta and Pardosa mackenziana (Araneae, Lycosidae) in central Alberta, Canada. Journal of Arachnology 28: 319-328.

Buddle, C. M., J. R. Spence, and D. W. Langor. 2000. Successsion of boreal forest spider assemblages following wildfire and harvesting. Ecography 23: 424-436.

Graham, A.K., C.M. Buddle, and J.R. Spence. 2003. Habitat affinities of spiders living near a freshwater pond. Journal of Arachnology 31: 78-89.

Pickavance, R. 2001. Life-cycles of four species of Pardosa (Araneae, Lycosidae) from the island of Newfoundland, Canada. Journal of Arachnology 29: 367-377.

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