No abstract

Schizocosa Chamberlin, 1904, with type-species Lycosa ocreata Hentz, 1844, comprises 20 species occurring in southern Canada, the U.S.A., and Mexico: S. ocreata (= Lycosa charonoides Montgomery, 1902, SYN. N.); S. crassipes (Walckenaer, 1837); S. floridana Bryant, 1934; S. saltatrix (Hentz, 1844); S. humilis (Banks, 1892) (= Lycosa episima Chamberlin, 1924, SYN. N.); S. duplex Chamberlin, 1925; S. salsa Barnes, 1953; S. bilineata (Emerton, 1885); S. segregata Gertsch and Wallace, 1937; S. aulonia Dondale, 1969; S. crassipalpata Roewer, 1951; S. mimula (Gertsch, 1934) (= Lycosa coahuilana Gertsch and Davis, 1940, SYN. N.); S. minnesotensis (Gertsch, 1934); S. retrorsa (Banks, 1911); S. avida (Walckenaer, 1837); S. maxima sp. n.; S. chiricahua sp. n.; S. cespitum sp. n.; S. communis (Emerton, 1885), comb. n. (= S. heasmani Dondale, 1969, SYN. N.); S. mccooki (Montgomery, 1904), comb. n. (= Lycosa pacifica Banks, 1904, SYN. N. = S. wasatchensis Chamberlin and Ivie, 1942, SYN. N).Avicosa Chamberlin and Ivie, 1942 and Epihogna Roewer, 1960 are synonymized under Schizocosa. Fourteen of the species of Schizocosa are represented only in the southeastern United States, the northeastern U.S., and eastern Canada, or are widespread in the eastern half of the continent; three are represented only on the prairies, and the remainder in the Rockies or the Pacific coast.

The European spider Steatoda bipunctata has apparently been introduced into North America through human transport. The earliest American collections were made in Nova Scotia in 1913. Until about 1933, specimens were known only on the coast of the Atlantic provinces, Maine, and along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, but they are now found widely in the Atlantic Provinces, northernmost New England, and southern Québec and Ontario. Habitats include buildings, bridges, piles of lumber and firewood, and crevices on tree trunks or among rocks. Evidence indicates that S. bipunctata, which closely resembles the native S. borealis in size, colour, microhabitat, diel activity, prey selection and utilization, life history, and sexual behaviour, can displace S. borealis. Displacement is, however, only partial, as S. borealis persists in forest habitats, where human influence is minimal. Laboratory tests on reproductive potential and interspecific aggression failed to demonstrate the method by which displacement takes place.

Apollophanes O. Pickard-Cambridge 1898 (= Pelloctanes Schick 1965, syn. n.) includes 10 species, namely, A. punctipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge) 1891 [= A. distinctus (O. Pickard-Cambridge) 1899, syn. n. = A. maculatipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge) 1893, syn. n. = A. arizonensis Gertsch 1933, syn. n. = A. mexicanus Gertsch 1933, syn. n. = A. similalis Gertsch 1933, syn. n.], A. texanus Banks 1904 [= A. francesca Lowrie and Gertsch 1955, syn. n.], A. longipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge) 1896, comb, n., A. margareta Lowrie and Gertsch 1955, A. caribaeus sp. n., A. punctatus (Bryant) 1948, comb, n., A. indistinctus Gertsch 1933, A crispus sp. n., A. erectus sp. n., and A. aztecanus sp. n. A. bryanti Gertsch 1933 and A. paraguensis Gertsch 1933 from South America are placed in the genus Cleocnemis Simon. Definitions, diagnoses, illustrations, range maps, and a key to species are provided.

Philodromus Walckenaer 1826 and its seven component species groups in the Americas are defined and diagnosed. The 12 species of the aureolus group are keyed, diagnosed, and mapped. P. obscurus Blackwail, 1871 is placed in synonymy under P. cespitum (Walckenaer, 1802). P. lutulentus Gertsch, 1934 is raised to species status from synonymy under P. laticeps Keyserling, 1880, and P. eremus Buckle, 1973 is placed in synonymy under P. lutulentus. P. agreutes Schick, 1965 is placed in synonymy under P. californicus Keyserling, 1884, and P. decolor O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899 under P. satullus Keyserling, 1880. The South American species P. fuliginosus Nicolet in Gay, 1849, P. junior Nicolet in Gay, 1849, and P. meridionalis Keyserling, 1891 are removed to the genus Petrichus, and P. setosus Petrunkevitch, 1929 is removed to the genus Thanatus, where it becomes a junior synonym of T. vulgaris Simon, 1870.