''Tigrosa'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

s in the family

Lycosidae Wolf spiders are members of the Family (biology), family Lycosidae (), named for their robust and agile hunting skills and excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude, hunt alone, and usually do not spin spider web, webs. Some are opportunis ...

, found in North America.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Tigrosa'' was erected by Allen R. Brady in 2012. Prior to 1990, many medium to large wolf spiders (family Lycosidae) from North America were placed in the genus ''

Lycosa ''Lycosa'' is a genus of wolf spiders distributed throughout most of the world. Sometimes called the "true tarantula", though not closely related to the spiders most commonly called tarantulas today, ''Lycosa'' spp. can be distinguished from comm ...

''. In 1990 it was accepted that ''Lycosa'' was a Mediterranean genus and did not occur in North America; seven species were transferred to ''

Hogna ''Hogna'' is a genus of wolf spiders with more than 200 described species. It is found on all continents except Antarctica. Etymology The word ''Hogna'' might be a rough latinization of one of the Greek words '' ὄχνη'' (''ókhnē'') " ...

''. A more detailed examination of the type species of ''Hogna'', ''

Hogna radiata ''Hogna radiata'' is a species of wolf spider present in South Europe (from the middle of France), north Africa, and Central Asia (N. I. Platnick). This species is wandering, hunting smaller insects less than 20% of its own size. Found on grass, p ...

'', convinced Brady that a new genus was needed for some of the North American species that had been moved to ''Hogna''. Characters that distinguish ''Tigrosa'' from ''Hogna'' include the pattern on the upper (dorsal) surface of the

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

, the arrangement of the eyes, and the shape of the female

epigyne The epigyne or epigynum is the external genital structure of female spiders. As the epigyne varies greatly in form in different species, even in closely related ones, it often provides the most distinctive characteristic for recognizing species. ...

. The generic name ''Tigrosa'' is intended to mean "fierce like a tiger", referring to the patterning and behaviour of ''Tigrosa'' species.

Species

, the

World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...

accepted the following species: *''

Tigrosa annexa ''Tigrosa annexa'' is a species of wolf spider (Lycosidae) native to eastern North America from Texas, east to Florida, and north to Ohio. Description Males measured in Mississippi had an average total length of 26.17 millimeters, ranging from ...

'' (Chamberlin & Ivie, 1944) – USA *'' Tigrosa aspersa'' (Hentz, 1844) – USA, Canada *'' Tigrosa georgicola'' (Walckenaer, 1837) – USA *'' Tigrosa grandis'' (Banks, 1894) – USA *''

Tigrosa helluo ''Tigrosa helluo'', commonly known as the Wetland Giant Wolf Spider, is a species of spider belonging to the family Lycosidae, also known as wolf spiders. ''T. helluo'' was formerly known as ''Hogna helluo'' before differences between dorsal ...

'' (Walckenaer, 1837) (

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

) – USA, Canada, Mexico

References

Lycosidae Araneomorphae genera Spiders of North America {{Lycosidae-stub