Genus Geolycosa Montgomery, 1904

Type species

Geolycosa latifrons Montgomery, 1904.

Diagnosis

Large lycosids; carapace elevated anteriorly; PME and ALE forming rectangle; septal pedicel on epigyne and spur on TA long (Zyuzin & Logunov 2000).

Description

Leg I strongest, nearly as long as IV, with thick scopulae on three terminal joints. Chelicerae large. Cephalic region of cephalothorax raised. 1 st eye row as wide as 2 nd eye row (PME). Otherwise, similar to Lycosa (Montgomery 1904). The type species with elongated epigynal septum and elongated palpal TA (Wallace 1942).

Natural history

Burrowing lycosids, not venturing far from their burrow (except mature males) (Wallace 1942).

Distribution

In its current composition Geolycosa is nearly cosmopolitan, recorded in all continents, except Antarctica, in tropical to temperate latitudes.

Relationships

Geolycosa is a polyphyletic genus, as shown by Piecentini et al. (2019). The morphology is possibly a convergence across Lycosinae, due to adaptation to a digging lifestyle. The type species is from North America, and it might not be related to the Old-World species.

Composition

72 species are recorded in the World Spider Catalog (2022).