The taxonomy and systematics of a group of New Zealand Lycosidae (Araneae) (wolf spiders)

Abstract

The taxonomy and systematics of a group of spiders in the family Lycosidae, informally known as the "hilaris group", that are often numerically dominant ground dwelling predators in agroecosystems, has been studied. Ten species of New Zealand Lycosidae have been taxonomically revised. Eight of the species have been placed in the newly erected genus Zeacosa, which has been defined here. Four existing Zeacosa species have been redescribed and four new species of Zeacosa have been described. The new genus Austracosa has been defined and the new species Austracosa robusta has been described. The genus Allotrochosina has been redefined and the species Allotrochosina schauinslandi has been redescribed. Distributions of all ten species, plus a probable additional ninth species of Zeacosa, Z. subantarctica, have been mapped and their distribution discussed. A phylogeny for all ten species has been derived using parsimony analysis of morphological characters with very strong support for the monophyly of the genus Zeacosa. One tree topology was derived and discussed.