Auplopus laeviculus (Bingham 1897)

Auplopus laeviculus (Bingham)

This is another widely distributed species in the Oriental Region, ranging from Sri Lanka and southern India, eastward through Thailand, Vietnam, Sarawak, Java, Sulawesi, Sumba, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Within Sri Lanka it is common in all three ecological zones at localities from near sea level to 610 m and with an average annual rainfall of 1000–5000 mm. We collected it as follows.

Mannar District: 0.8 km NE of Kokmotte Bungalow, Wilpattu National Park

Anuradhapura District: Padaviya

Trincomalee District: Trincomalee, China Bay

Amparai District: Ekgal Am Reservoir and Lahugala Sanctuary

Matale District: Kibissa near Sigiriya

Kandy District: Peradeniya, Hantana Hills, Hasalaka, and Kandy, Udawattakele Sanctuary

Kurunegala District: Kurunegala

Colombo District: Gampaha, Colombo, and Labugama Reservoir

Kegalla District: Kitulgala

Ratnapura District: Weddagala and Uggalkaltota

Monaragala District: Angunakolapelessa, Mau Am, Wellawaya, Mahagama Tank, and Inginiyagala

PREY TRANSPORT.—We have two records for laeviculus. P.B. Karunaratne observed the first female, 5.5 mm long, carrying her wolf spider prey at noon on 23 May 1976 near Kokmotte Bungalow. The prey was an immature Pardosa Koch (Lycosidae), 5.0 mm long.

I noted a smaller female, 4.0 mm long, at 1620 on 18 June 1978, along the Mau Aru. She was walking rapidly on foot, carrying a small wolf spider beneath her on coarse sand near the stream. She paused several times beneath dry curled leaves for some minutes, presumably to feed on the blood exuding from the severed stumps of the spider’s legs. The juvenile spider was a species of Lycosidae, 4.2 mm long, from which all legs had been removed at the coxae except for the right foreleg.