Alopecosa is a spider genus in the family Lycosidae (wolf spiders), with about 160 species. They have a largely Eurasian distribution, although some species are found in North Africa and North America. Life cycle Most species grow up to 2 cm. Alopecosa females make a burrow in which they deposit their egg sac. The female then stays in the burrow guarding the sac until the eggs hatch. Taxonomy The species in this genus have been traditionally grouped into sibling species complexes (groups) based on morphological characters, but, as morphology-based taxonomy can be unreliable, alternative methods have also been employed to identify species correctly. For example, differences in observed courtship and copulation behaviour have proved to be a useful tool for species identification and delimitation, particularly in cryptic species. Molecular techniques have also been applied to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships between some species. Species , the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species: Alopecosa accentuata (Latreille, 1817) – Europe Alopecosa aculeata (Clerck, 1757) – North America, Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to Far East), Iran, Central Asia, China, Japan Alopecosa akkolka Marusik, 1995 – Kazakhstan, China Alopecosa albofasciata (Brullé, 1832) – Mediterranean to Central Asia Alopecosa albonotata (Schmidt, 1895) – Russia (Middle Siberia) Alopecosa albostriata (Grube, 1861) – Russia (West to East Siberia, Far East) Alopecosa albovittata (Schmidt, 1895) – Russia (Middle Siberia) Alopecosa alpicola (Simon, 1876) – Spain, France, Italy, Russia (Europe), China, Caucasus?, Kazakhstan? Alopecosa andesiana (Berland, 1913) – Ecuador Alopecosa artenarensis Wunderlich, 1992 – Canary Is. Alopecosa atis Caporiacco, 1949 – Libya Alopecosa auripilosa (Schenkel, 1953) – Russia (Far East), China, Korea Alopecosa aurita Chen, Song & Kim, 2001 – China Alopecosa ayubaevorum Fomichev & Logunov, 2015 – Russia (Altai) Alopecosa azsheganovae Esyunin, 1996 – Russia (Europe to South Siberia) Alopecosa balinensis (Giltay, 1935) – Indonesia (Bali) Alopecosa beckeri (Thorell, 1875) – Ukraine Alopecosa camerunensis Roewer, 1960 – Cameroon Alopecosa canaricola Schmidt, 1982 – Canary Is. Alopecosa cedroensis Wunderlich, 1992 – Canary Is. Alopecosa chagyabensis Hu & Li, 1987 – China Alopecosa cinnameopilosa (Schenkel, 1963) – Kazakhstan, Russia (Central Asia to Far East), China, Korea, Japan Alopecosa cronebergi (Thorell, 1875) – Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia (Europe), Caucasus, Kazakhstan Alopecosa cuneata (Clerck, 1757) – Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to Far East), Kazakhstan, China Alopecosa cursor (Hahn, 1831) – Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to South Siberia), Iran, Central Asia, China Alopecosa cursorioides Charitonov, 1969 – Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan Alopecosa curtohirta Tang,