Understanding the wolf sex: morphology and evolution of genital organs in wolf spider

PIACENTINI, LUIS NORBERTO; RAMÍREZ, MARTÍN JAVIER

Montevideo

Congreso; 22 Congreso Internacional de Aracnología; 2023

Spiders' genital characteristics are the primary source of distinguishing species, genera, and families. In phylogenetic analyses of Lycosoidea, genitals traits contribute between 40% to 60% of the characters, growing to 66%-79% for analysis at the generic level. Despite their dominance, few studies have compared the genitalia of different groups, proposing sclerite homologies, particularly in Lycosidae. A comprehensive comparative study of Lycosidae genitalia will resolve terminology conflicts for male copulatory bulb sclerites based on reliable comparative morphology. In this work, we examine the diversity of Lycosidae genital structures in an evolutionary context, constructing a new phylogenetic hypothesis using molecular and morphological traits. To archive this, we constructed a matrix with about 220 terminals representing all subfamilies of Lycosidae as well as several outgroups, with approximately 80 morphological characters and about 2700 molecular characters containing fragments of nuclear (28s and H3) and mitochondrial (12s, NADH, and COI) markers. As a result of the study of the genitalia of a diverse taxonomic sample, terms like "palea" and "synembolus" were redefined, and new others like "lycosid tegular projection" were defined. Detailed descriptions of the genitalia of each subfamily of Lycosidae, including new synapomorphies, were also compiled. Except for Pardosinae, which emerge as sister group of Lycosidae, and a new subfamily composed by Trabea and Proevippa, the tree topology generally matches previously published. In addition, the inclusion of a broad sample of South American taxa led to the discovery of new clades, indicating the existence of undescribed genera.