Melecosa is a genus of spiders in the family Lycosidae. Its lone species is found in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China.[1]

Melecosa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Lycosidae
Genus: Melecosa
Species:
M. alpina
Binomial name
Melecosa alpina
(Marusik, Azarkina & Koponen, 2004)[1]

The species was first described in 2004 by Marusik, Azarkina, and Koponen as Sibirocosa alpina, then transferred into its own genus in 2015.

This spider has a body length of up to 5.75 mm and has shorter legs than other Sibirocosa species. It is distinctively marked: the front of the cephalothorax (where the eyes are located) is black with two longitudinal brown stripes; the carapace is brown with paler stripes; the abdomen is blackish with a broad brown stripe down the middle. The legs have pale rings and differ from other Sibirocosa species by having a smaller number (3 vs. 4) of ventral tibial spines.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Lycosidae". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
  2. ^ Marusik, Yuri M.; Azarkina, Galina N.; Koponen, Seppo (2003). "A Survey of East Palaearctic Lycosidae (Aranei). II. Acantholycosa F. Dahl, 1908 and related new genera" (PDF). Arthropoda Selecta. 12 (2): 101–148. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2017-08-22.