''Pisaurina brevipes'' is a species of "

nursery web spider Nursery web spiders (Pisauridae) is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1890. They resemble wolf spiders (Lycosidae) except for several key differences. Wolf spiders have two very prominent eyes in addition to the o ...

" that is found in the eastern half of the North American continent, from

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

down to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and west to

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. ''P. brevipes'' is distinguished from the similar ''

Pisaurina mira ''Pisaurina mira'', also known as the American nursery web spiders, is a species of spider in the family Pisauridae. They are often mistaken for wolf spiders (Lycosidae) due to their physical resemblance. ''P. mira'' is distinguished by its uniqu ...

'' by having relatively shorter legs. The ratio of patella-tibia I length to

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 ...

length is less than 2.0 in males and less than 1.4 in females, whereas for ''P. mira'' the patella-tibia I length ratio is more than 2.0 in males and more than 1.4 in females. The edges of the abdominal band are more straight edged than in ''P. mira''. The natural history of ''P. brevipes'' is not well known. The only records known to Carico seem to indicate that they favor

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

s, and

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s. These spiders rear their young in nurseries, which are bell-like structures of spider web laid out in a sheet form. ''P. brevipes'' is difficult to distinguish from ''P. mira,'' unless the pedipalps of the males are examined. The reason is that its coloration patterns fall within the natural range of variation of the more numerous ''P. mira''. The females of ''P. brevipes'' have a body length of 11 to 13 mm, and the males are about 10.8 mm.Benjamin Julian Kaston, ''Spiders of Connecticut'', p. 297.

References

Pisauridae Spiders of North America Spiders described in 1911 {{pisauridae-stub