Spider diversity is increased when similar species reduce inter-species competition by occupying different habitats and also varying the time of day or night each species is active. A good example is the wolf spider genus Lycosa.The Beach Wolf Spider (Lycosa leuckarti), found at Airlee Beach, normally lives under flotsum and debris on the upper beach area and comes out and actively hunts in daylight hours. Compare this with the Rainforest Wolf Spider (Lycosa sp), also found at Airlee Beach that lives under rocks on the rainforest floor and comes out hunting during the last of the day light hours. Both these examples differ from the Open Forest Wolf spider (Lycosa sp) of the Collinsville area that lives in a hole it has dug in the ground in open forest and only comes out hunting at night.
Classifications:
Arachnid
Family:
Lycosidae
Information sources:
Photos taken by Steve Pearson; 1 at Airlee Beach ; 2 at Collinsville
