Nearctic States & Provinces: AB ON QC CO MO MT NH ND OK PA WY
Collection Locales Mapped by Year Collected:
The Nearctic Spider Database, http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/spiders/31875
Xysticus elegans Keyserling, 1880
elegant crab spider
FAMILY: THOMISIDAE Sundevall, 1833
Genus: Xysticus C. L. Koch, 1835
Species: Xysticus elegans Keyserling, 1880
Author of this page: Hancock, John (Page complete and awaiting review)
Common Names
Family Common Name:
crab spiders
Genus Common Name:
ground crab spiders
Species Common Name:
elegant crab spider
Distribution
Global Distribution: USA, Canada, Alaska
Nearctic States & Provinces:
AB ON QC CO MO MT NH ND OK PA WY
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:
Partly wooded areas, leaf litter, under stones and logs, on herbaceous plants
Life & Natural History:
Overwintering is usually survived as sub-adults. Males mature May-June and gravid females can be found most often in late June. Females with egg sacs have been found between July and September (Hancock, pers. obs.).
Seasonality of Specimen Records:
Image(s) of Habitus:
Credit: Slowik, Joey
Credit: Hancock, John
Details About Males
Description:
Carapace, red-brown with pale median area anterior to dorsal groove. Legs, mottled red-brown and off-white. Abdomen, dorsum with paired angular brown spots separated by off-white lines (Dondale & Redner, 1978).
Male Dimensions:
A+B = 6.4 mm
A = 3.07 mm
C = 3 mm
Image of External Male Genitalia:
Credit: Hancock, John
Details About Females
Description:
Carapace with pair of pale-brown longitude stripes and with pale yellow median area. Legs lightly mottled with brown and yellow. Abdomen, dorsum with paired angular brown spots separated by off-white lines (Dondale & Redner, 1978).
Female Dimensions:
A+B = 8.7 mm
A = 3.84 mm
C = 3.77 mm
Image of Epigynum:
Credit: Slowik, Joey
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†
| Xysticus elegans Keyserling 1880 |
| Xysticus borealis Keyserling 1884 |
| Xysticus limbatus Emerton 1892 |
| Xysticus limbatus Emerton 1902 |
| Xysticus limbatus Banks 1913 |
| Xysticus elegans Gertsch 1939 |
| Xysticus elegans Chickering 1940 |
| Xysticus elegans Comstock 1940 |
| Xysticus elegans Kaston 1948 |
| Xysticus elegans Turnbull, Dondale & Redner 1965 |
| Xysticus elegans Dondale & Redner 1978 |
| Xysticus elegans Breene et al. 1993 |
| Xysticus elegans Paquin & Dupérré 2003 |
Taxonomic References†
Banks, N. 1913. Notes on the types of some American spiders in European collections. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad. 65: 177-188.
Breene, R. G., D. A. Dean, M. Nyffeler & G. B. Edwards. 1993. Biology, Predation Ecology, and Significance of Spiders in Texas Cotton Ecosystems with a Key to Species. Texas Agriculture Experiment Station, College Station, 115 pp.
Chickering, A. M. 1940. The Thomisidae (crab spiders) of Michigan. Pap. Michigan Acad. Sci. Arts Lett. 25: 189-237.
Comstock, J. H. 1940. The spider book, revised and edited by W. J. Gertsch. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, xi + 727 pp.
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. 1902. The common spiders of the United States. Boston, pp. 1-225.
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.
Keyserling, E. 1880. Die Spinnen Amerikas, I. Laterigradae. Nürnberg, 1: 1-283.
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
Natural History References
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.
Other Nearctic Members of Genus Xysticus C. L. Koch, 1835‡‡
X. acquiescens Emerton, 1919 ...............Holarctic
X. alboniger Turnbull, Dondale & Redner, 1965 ...............USA, Canada
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. 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 elegans Keyserling, 1880.
In: The Nearctic Spider Database. David P. Shorthouse (editor). World Wide Web electronic publication. Direct link: http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/spiders/31875 (Accessed: 7/20/2008 3:58:04 PM).
Author Email Address: spidermanjohn@shaw.ca
Text Last Modified: 2006-02-09T20:49:43Z