Pisauridae Dendrolycosa

Dendrolycosa sp. "Mangrove Tree Lycan"

Mangrove Tree Lycan

Dendrolycosa are medium to large-sized spiders that look superficially like Sphedanus. However, they are more robust and may be distinguished by the pattern on the carapace: a pair of pale and broad bands laterally, in addition to one or more thin pale lines medially and anteriorly. The abdomen is covered by a broad brown dorsal band with undulating edges and embedding an anterior darker pattern. The equally sized eyes are arranged in two rows, with equally distanced gaps separating between adjacent eyes.

Dendrolycosa typically live inside a densely spun tangle web with a funnel retreat. The webs are suspended over tree or bush foliage, or at corners of outdoor man-made structures such as garden fences or walkway railings.

The species found in Singapore is closely related to, if not identical with, D. lepida (Thorell, 1890), described from a specimen collected from "Ajer Mancior" in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Their female copulatory organs are similar, but the latter species is much larger (♀ 13–15 mm).