The Nearctic Spider Database, http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/spiders/31784

Xysticus alboniger Turnbull, Dondale & Redner, 1965

FAMILY: THOMISIDAE Sundevall, 1833
    Genus: Xysticus C. L. Koch, 1835
        Species: Xysticus alboniger Turnbull, Dondale & Redner, 1965

Author of this page: Hancock, John (Page complete and awaiting review)

General Comments: Known to lay-in-wait on tree trunks and branches (Hancock, pers. obs.).

Common Names

Family Common Name:  crab spiders
Genus Common Name:  ground crab spiders
Species Common Name:  none

Distribution

Global Distribution: USA, Canada
Nearctic States & Provinces:   AB NH
Collection Locales Mapped by Year Collected: 

Natural History, Phenology & Image(s)

Feeding Guild:‡  ambushers
‡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.
Recorded Habitats:  Both the ground and field layer of riparian sites, also old spruce stands (Hancock, pers. obs.). Collections have also been made by pitfall traps in bogs, and by sweep nets in grasses, shrubs, and trees.
Life & Natural History:  (not yet recorded or unknown)

Seasonality of Specimen Records:


Image(s) of Habitus:


Credit: Hancock, John

Details About Males

Description:  Carapace red-black to black. Legs red-black basad, yellow with few white spots and streaks distad. Dorsum of abdomen off-white or gray. Uniformly dark carapace and off-white to gray abdomen. The embolus arises mid-length on the tegulum on the prolateral side (Dondale & Redner, 1978).

Male Dimensions:

A+B = 3.6 mm  A = 2.06 mm  C = 1.9 mm 

Image of External Male Genitalia:


Credit: Hancock, John

Details About Females

Description:  Carapace red-black to black. Legs red-black basad, yellow with few white spots and streaks distad. Dorsum of abdomen off-white or gray. Atrium of the epigynum is narrow and elongate (Dondale & Redner, 1978).

Female Dimensions:

A+B = 4.7 mm  A = 2.35 mm  C = 2.2 mm 

Image of Epigynum:  (image not yet available)

Descriptions Source:
Dondale, C. D. & J. H. Redner. 1978. The insects and arachnids of Canada, Part 5. The crab spiders of Canada and Alaska, Araneae: Philodromidae and Thomisidae. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Publ. 1663: 1-255.

Synonyms and Chresonyms†

Synaema bicolor Keyserling 1884
Xysticus inornatus Emerton 1892
Synema bicolor Dahl 1907
Synema bicolor Comstock 1912
Synema bicolor Gertsch 1939
Synema bicolor Kaston 1948
Xysticus alboniger Turnbull, Dondale & Redner 1965
Xysticus alboniger Dondale & Redner 1978
Xysticus alboniger Paquin & Dupérré 2003

Taxonomic References†

Comstock, J. H. 1912. The spider book; a manual for the study of the spiders and their near relatives, the scorpions, pseudoscorpions, whipscorpions, harvestmen and other members of the class Arachnida, found in America north of Mexico, with analytical keys for their classification and popular accounts of their habits. Garden City, New York, pp. 1-721

Dahl, F. 1907. Synaema marlothi, eine neue Laterigraden-Art und ihre Stellung in System. Mitt. zool. Mus. Berlin 3: 369-395.

Dondale, C. D. & J. H. Redner. 1978. The insects and arachnids of Canada, Part 5. The crab spiders of Canada and Alaska, Araneae: Philodromidae and Thomisidae. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Publ. 1663: 1-255.

Emerton, J. H. 1892. New England spiders of the family Thomisidae. Trans. Connect. Acad. Arts Sci. 8: 359-381.

Gertsch, W. J. 1939. A revision of the typical crab spiders (Misumeninae) of America north of Mexico. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 76: 277-442.

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

Keyserling, E. 1884. Neue Spinnen aus America. V. Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien 33: 649-684.

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

Turnbull, A. L., C. D. Dondale & J. H. Redner. 1965. The spider genus Xysticus C. L. Koch (Araneae: Thomisidae) in Canada. Can. Ent. 97: 1233-1280.

†Nomenclature and taxonomic references from the World Spider Catalog accessible at http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/THOMISIDAE.html

Other Nearctic Members of Genus Xysticus C. L. Koch, 1835‡‡

X. acquiescens Emerton, 1919 ...............Holarctic
X. ampullatus Turnbull, Dondale & Redner, 1965 ...............USA, Canada
X. apachecus Gertsch, 1933 ...............USA
X. apalacheus Gertsch, 1953 ...............USA
X. aprilinus Bryant, 1930 ...............USA
X. auctificus Keyserling, 1880 ...............USA, Canada
X. audax (Schrank, 1803) ...............Palearctic
X. banksi Bryant, 1933 ...............USA
X. benefactor Keyserling, 1880 ...............USA, Canada
X. bicuspis Keyserling, 1887 ...............USA
X. bifasciatus C. L. Koch, 1837 ...............Palearctic
X. bonneti Denis, 1938 ...............Palearctic
X. britcheri Gertsch, 1934 ...............Russia, Alaska, Canada, USA
X. californicus Keyserling, 1880 ...............USA
X. canadensis Gertsch, 1934 ...............Russia, USA, Canada
X. chaparralis Schick, 1965 ...............USA
X. chippewa Gertsch, 1953 ...............Holarctic
X. cochise Gertsch, 1953 ...............USA
X. coloradensis Bryant, 1930 ...............USA
X. concursus Gertsch, 1934 ...............USA
X. cristatus (Clerck, 1757) ...............Palearctic
X. cunctator Thorell, 1877 ...............USA, Canada
X. deichmanni Sorensen, 1898 ...............Canada, Alaska, Greenland
X. discursans Keyserling, 1880 ...............North America
X. durus (Sorensen, 1898) ...............USA, Canada, Greenland
X. elegans Keyserling, 1880 ...............USA, Canada, Alaska
X. ellipticus Turnbull, Dondale & Redner, 1965 ...............USA, Canada
X. emertoni Keyserling, 1880 ...............USA, Canada, Alaska, Slovakia to China
X. facetus O. P.-Cambridge, 1896 ...............Mexico to El Salvador
X. ferox (Hentz, 1847) ...............USA, Canada
X. ferrugineus Menge, 1876 ...............Palearctic
X. fervidus Gerstch, 1953 ...............USA, Canada
X. flavovittatus Keyserling, 1880 ...............USA
X. floridanus Banks, 1896 ...............USA
X. fraternus Banks, 1895 ...............USA, Canada
X. funestus Keyserling, 1880 ...............North America
X. furtivus Gertsch, 1936 ...............USA
X. gallicus Simon, 1875 ...............Palearctic
X. gertschi Schick, 1965 ...............North America
X. gosiutus Gertsch, 1932 ...............USA, Canada
X. gulosus Keyserling, 1880 ...............North America
X. humilis Redner & Dondale, 1965 ...............USA
X. imitarius Gertsch, 1953 ...............USA
X. indiligens (Walckenaer, 1837) ...............USA
X. iviei Schick, 1965 ...............USA
X. iviei sierrensis Schick, 1965 ...............USA
X. keyserlingi Bryant, 1930 ...............USA, Canada
X. labradorensis Keyserling, 1887 ...............Holarctic
X. lanio C. L. Koch, 1835 ...............Palearctic
X. lassanus Chamberlin, 1925 ...............USA, Mexico
X. laticeps Bryant, 1933 ...............USA, Cuba
X. lineatus (Westring, 1851) ...............Palearctic
X. locuples Keyserling, 1880 ...............USA, Canada
X. luctans (C. L. Koch, 1845) ...............USA, Canada
X. luctator L. Koch, 1870 ...............Palearctic
X. luctuosus (Blackwall, 1836) ...............Holarctic
X. lutzi Gertsch, 1935 ...............USA, Mexico
X. montanensis Keyserling, 1887 ...............USA, Canada, Alaska
X. nevadensis (Keyserling, 1880) ...............USA
X. nigromaculatus Keyserling, 1884 ...............USA, Canada
X. ninnii Thorell, 1872 ...............Palearctic
X. obscurus Collett, 1877 ...............Holarctic
X. ocala Gertsch, 1953 ...............USA
X. ontariensis Emerton, 1919 ...............Canada
X. orizaba Banks, 1898 ...............Mexico
X. paiutus Gertsch, 1933 ...............USA, Mexico
X. pearcei Schick, 1965 ...............USA
X. pellax O. P.-Cambridge, 1894 ...............North America
X. peninsulanus Gertsch, 1934 ...............USA
X. posti Sauer, 1968 ...............USA
X. pretiosus Gertsch, 1934 ...............USA, Canada
X. punctatus Keyserling, 1880 ...............USA, Canada
X. robinsoni Gertsch, 1953 ...............USA, Mexico
X. rockefelleri Gertsch, 1953 ...............Mexico
X. rugosus Buckle & Redner, 1964 ...............Russia, Canada, USA
X. sabulosus (Hahn, 1832) ...............Palearctic
X. sphericus (Walckenaer, 1837) ...............USA
X. striatipes L. Koch, 1870 ...............Palearctic
X. tampa Gertsch, 1953 ...............USA
X. texanus Banks, 1904 ...............USA, Mexico
X. triangulosus Emerton, 1894 ...............USA, Canada, Alaska
X. triguttatus Keyserling, 1880 ...............USA, Canada
X. ulmi (Hahn, 1831) ...............Palearctic
X. variabilis Keyserling, 1880 ...............USA
X. viduus Kulczynski, 1898 ...............Palearctic
X. winnipegensis Turnbull, Dondale & Redner, 1965 ...............Canada

‡‡May also include species with Palearctic distribution

Page Reference:

Hancock, John. submitted. Taxonomic and natural history description of FAM: THOMISIDAE, Xysticus alboniger Turnbull, Dondale & Redner, 1965. In: The Nearctic Spider Database. David P. Shorthouse (editor). World Wide Web electronic publication. Direct link: http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/spiders/31784 (Accessed: 10/13/2008 1:28:00 PM).

Author Email Address: spidermanjohn@shaw.ca
Text Last Modified: 2006-02-25T03:52:31Z