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Spider Photos - Wolf Spiders |
Here's some photos sent in by
viewers.
Wolf
Spiders are large, hairy spiders which are usually patterned
with a mixture of black, gray, and brown. Wolf spiders, especially
large ones, look very similar to spiders in the Pisauridae family (nursery
web and fishing spiders), but wolf spiders are usually more robust,
with shorter legs. There are more than 2000
wolf spider species. Wolf spiders have 8 eyes. As with all spiders, wolf
spiders have 8 legs, 2 body parts (cephalothorax and abdomen), and
fang-like mouthparts called "chelicerae." Like
all spiders, young wolf spiders hatch from eggs and look
like tiny adults. They shed their skin as they grow.
Most wolf spiders live for several years. In many
species, female wolf spiders lay dozens of eggs at one
time and wrap them in a large ball of web. The female
will then carry the egg sac with them until
the spiderlings hatch. The gestation period is 9 to 27 days
depending on the surrounding temperature and species of
wolf spider. Upon hatching the, spiderlings will live on the
mother's back for a few weeks until they are large enough to hunt on
their own. Wolf spiders
are active hunters that patrol the ground for insects, other spiders,
and similar creatures. They do not use webs to capture prey. They live by the thousands
in leaf litter and grassy areas. Some wolf spiders build small burrows
and defend a territory, others are free-roaming. Because they are so
numerous, and such voracious predators, wolf spiders are a very
important part of any ecosystem in which they occur. Wolf spiders are not normally
pests, but they often wander into homes. They can bite, but they are
not considered dangerous. Wolf spiders look similar to brown recluses,
and are often killed because they resemble these dangerous spiders.
With a little practice, it is easy to tell the difference between wolf
spiders and brown recluses. There are several types of wolf spiders and
I have tried to group them accordingly below. All photos are copyright to their
owners and may not be reproduced without permission.
Please choose a
section.
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 The surest way to recognize a wolf spider is by the general stout
body shape, the eye arrangement and by the fact that they are
usually not in a web. Their general body shape is somewhat stout
with the cephalothorax and abdomen of about equal sizes. The legs
also are stout, fairly even in length and strong enough to support
the spiders weight. The legs can be compared to those of many web
building spiders whose legs are much longer and thinner. In wolf
spiders, the anterior eyes are made up of 4 small eyes in a row, and
the posterior eyes are 4 large eyes arranged in two rows. From a
front view, you can see a row of 4 small anterior eyes with two
larger eyes above them and 2 eyes further back on the head. The
large eyes are significant in their behaviour: wolf spiders do have
good eyesight (especially for spiders) and use vision fairly
extensively for prey capture, courtship and aggressive interactions.
The posterior eyes give the spiders vision above them and behind
them and are significant in avoiding predation or capture.
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26 January, 2010:
Hi Glen,
I'm hoping you can tell me what kind of spider this is. It was about 2" (maybe slightly bigger). Anyway, it was a big one to find crawling on my floor. I tried to identify it, but can't quite figure it out - thought you'd probably be able to in a few seconds. Thanks for your help!
Jackie
South Texas |
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14 January, 2010:
Hi Glen,
Happy New Year! Just found your site- such fun! I currently live in Tanzania so am always running across cool creepy-crawlies that I can't ID, so I really appreciate all the pictures on your site!
I found this spider (pictures attached) inside a ranger station in a Game Reserve right on the border with Mozambique in dry Miombo woodland. Looks a whole lot like the picture from 21 June in your "Unidentified Spiders 2007(2)" list that you said was a Giant Crab or Huntsman, but I think that particular spider was from Costa Rica. Got a couple different angles and my fingers in one of the shots for scale. Very docile, but it was the middle of the day...
Can't really bring any fun arachnids home yet, as I am in the process of finding a new place to live which is hard enough with a dog and (mildly) venomous snake in tow!
Cheers,
Bronwyn |
Reply: Going on its markings and eye
pattern I'd say this is a wolf spider - glen
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Click
here for Page 2 of Wolf Spider photos. |
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