Allocosa lawrencei

Allocosa lawrencei is a species of spider in the family Lycosidae. It is commonly known as Lawrence's Allocosa wolf spider.

Distribution

Allocosa lawrencei is known from Eswatini and the South African provinces Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Northern Cape.

Habitat and ecology

Allocosa lawrencei is a free running ground dweller sampled from the Grassland, Savanna, and Thicket Biomes at altitudes ranging from 4 to 1730 m. It has also been sampled from vineyards.

Conservation

Allocosa lawrencei is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographical distribution range. It is protected in more than 15 protected areas.

Etymology

The species is named after Reginald Frederick Lawrence, a South African zoologist who made significant contributions to arachnology.

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by Lawrence in 1938 as Lycosa maritima from Umhlali in KwaZulu-Natal, but this name was preoccupied by Hentz, 1844. Roewer provided the replacement name lawrencei in 1951. The species is known from both sexes.