Lycosidae  Sundevall, 1833 / Wadicosa  Zyuzin, 1985   1 species

Wadicosa fidelis (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872)

Description
Male

Colouration variable, varying between dark brown, grey to almost black. Sternum dark. Opisthosoma with dark cardiac mark and light lateral markings; ventrally lighter.

Body length male: 5.6-6.8 mm
Female

Often lighter in colouration than males.

Body length female: 7.4 mm
Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Macaronesia, North Africa, Southern Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Middle East, Central Asia, Pakistan to China, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia (Sumatra)
Figures
Distribution List
Algeria   (Benhacene et al., 2023) ||| Azerbaijan   (Otto, 2022) ||| Cyprus   (Bosmans et al., 2019c) ||| Egypt   (El-Hennawy, 2017a) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Georgia   (Seropian et al., 2023b) ||| Greece   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Libya   (Elkrew et al., 2024) ||| Morocco   (Benhalima & Bosmans, 2024) ||| Portugal   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Tunisia   (Kmira et al., 2025) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Akpınar & Varol, 2013; Danışman et al., 2025a) |||
References

Abdel-Ghani D M A, Hassan F M, Sallam G M E (2023) Spiders as a bio-agent factor in a mango greenhouse at Giza Governorate, Egypt. Serket 20: 26-38 pdf

Akpınar A, Varol İ (2013) Contributions to the Turkish wolf spiders (Arachnida: Lycosidae). [note: Lycosa boninensis, Pardosa anomala and Trochosa abdita are not plausible and not included in Spiders of Europe] Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 65: 271-272 pdf

Benhacene R, Adjami A, Hadjeb A, Kermiche K, Ouakid M L (2023) Bibliographic checklist of the Algerian spider fauna (Araneae). Zootaxa 5352: 301-357 pdf

Benhalima S, Bosmans R (2024) First historical checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Morocco, between 1840–2024. Zootaxa 5555: 407-535 pdf

Bosmans R, Chatzaki M (2005) A catalogue of the spiders of Greece – a critical review of all spider species cited from Greece with their localities. Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische arachnologische Vereniging 20 (2, suppl.): 1-124 pdf

Bosmans R, Van Keer J, Russell-Smith A, Hadjiconstantis M, Komnenov M, Bosselaers J, Huber S, McCowan D, Snazell R, Decae A, Zoumides C, Kielhorn K-H, Oger P (2019c) Spiders of Cyprus (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from Cyprus. Newsletter of the Belgian Arachnological Society 34, Suppl. 1: 1-173 pdf

Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa 4614: 201-254 pdf

Danışman T, Kunt K B, Özkütük R S, Coşar İ (2025a) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2025 [last updated 01 December 2025], online at http://www.spidersofturkey.info pdf

El-Hennawy H K (2017a) A list of Egyptian spiders (revised in 2017). Serket 15: 167-183 pdf

Elkrew H, Hamza A, Ghana S, Shaibi T, Swehli A I, Elmareme H, Ahmad A (2024) Checklist of the spiders (Araneae) of Libya. Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences 22: 19346-19369 pdf

Hepner M, Paulus H F (2009) Contributions on the wolf spider fauna (Araneae, Lycosidae) of Gran Canaria (Spain). Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 14: 339-346 pdf

Kmira G, Nasri-Ammar, Petillon J, Bosmans R (2025) Catalog of the spiders of Tunisia (Arachnida: Araneae). Zootaxa 5641: 1-95 pdf

Kronestedt T, Feulner G R, Roobas B (2024) Species of Wadicosa (Araneae, Lycosidae): a new species from the southeastern Arabian Peninsula. Zootaxa 5523: 291-300 pdf

Kronestedt T, Zyuzin A A (2009) Fixation of Lycosa fidelis O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872 as the type species for the genus Wadicosa Zyuzin, 1985 (Araneae: Lycosidae), with a redescripton of the species. Contributions to Natural History 12: 813-828 pdf

Le Peru B (2007) Catalogue et répartition des araignées de France. Revue Arachnologique 16: 1-468 pdf

Lecigne S, Moutaouakil S, Lips J (2025) Contribution to the knowledge of the spider fauna of Morocco (Arachnida: Araneae) – second note. On new species and new records from caves and miscellaneous terrestrial ecosystems. Journal of the Belgian Arachnological Society 40(1, supplement): 1-184 pdf

Otto S (2022) Caucasian spiders. A faunistic database on the spiders of the Caucasus Ecoregion. Database version 02.2022. Internet: caucasus-spiders.info.

Quevedo-Ortiz G, Pinilla Rosa M (2024b) Aportación al conocimiento aracnológico (Araneae) del noreste y sureste de la península ibérica. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 44: 175-177 pdf

Seropian A, Bulbulashvili N, Otto S, Krammer H-J, Kachlishvili N, Datunashvili A (2023b) Picking pearls from the Silk Road: insights into the spider (Arachnida, Araneae) diversity in Georgia from the Caucasus barcode of life project. Part II. Caucasiana 2: 231-297 pdf

Simon E (1937) Les arachnides de France 6 (5). Paris (Roret): 979-1298 pdf

WSC (2026) World Spider Catalog. Version 27. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (13.2.2026) doi: 10.24436/2 pdf

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