Wolf Spiders

I was trying to photograph a tiny, tiny toad that was hidden in some very dense ground cover. Imagine my surprise when suddenly this large spider darted out of the vegetation and paused obligingly for a moment on my open hand. I already had the camera focused so I took advantage of the opportunity to take this picture!

These are wolf spiders, and they are wonderful to have in any garden because they are a natural form of pest control. They belong to the family Lycosidae (Greek for “wolf”). I’m not usually bothered by creepy-crawlies, but occasionally we will see a wolf spider that is just so incredibly large it is startling. Wolf spiders have very good eyesight which helps them in hunting their prey and eight eyes arranged in three rows… there are two medium-sized eyes in the top row, two very large eyes in the middle row, and four small eyes in the bottom row.

When I first saw this second spider, which was quite a bit larger than the one that jumped onto my hand, it had newly-hatched babies clinging to its abdomen. As soon as the babies sensed my presence as a threat, they quickly jumped off the mother and disappeared into the vegetation.

Wolf spiders inject a venom into their prey, and in humans the venom can cause swelling and pain, so it is a good idea to give these spiders their space… which is why I was not exactly happy to unexpectedly find myself with a handful of spider!

Written by Shirley | Filed Under Enjoying Nature, Simple Living

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Comments

Comment by Kelli:

I would have so freaked out! I am terrified of spiders and never really saw one up close before your photos. I have to admit they are interesting at a distance.

Comment by Brad:

We’re trying to introduce beneficial insects into our garden and we’ve stopped using pesticides. I hadn’t thought of spiders. Great photos and interesting post.

Comment by moxie:

Those spiders soooo freak me out. We had wolf spiders in our basement when I was a child, and I would be down there sweeping or doing laundry and all of a sudden there would be one next to me. Scared me to DEATH!

They also have a really odd smell about them. After I while I could smell them before I saw them.

Comment by Jo:

Look, I love Nature. I really, really do. And all God’s creatures, big and small. I really, really do. But, when I leave my house for the great outdoors I want to observe things peacefully, not have them give me cardiac arrest.

Comment by Shirley:

Jo, me too! A big snake would have been worse, though.

Comment by Dionne:

Wolf spiders are neat – what really scares me are the black widows that live around here. I am not generally afraid of spiders (although I do give them their space), but when I see one of those huge black bodies, I go running to get my husband and make him squish it with a hammer before I’ll go anywhere near where I spotted it. I’m such a big baby about widows!

Comment by Iris:

Wow! I’m a fan of spiders myself (even the dreaded funnel-web – I definitely give those plenty of space!). It must’ve been cool to see mama spider with her babies.

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