Unlike orb weavers, Wolf Spiders do not capture their meals in webs, but hunt them down. They use silk to line their underground burrows, build egg sacks, and preserve their prey. After breeding, the female deposits her eggs into an egg sack which she carries with her until the young hatch. They live on the mother’s back until they can hunt on their own.
Why Are They Called Wolf Spiders?
Their name is a misnomer in that it does not refer to their eating habits like Bird Spiders which are also known as Bird-eating Spiders. Wolf Spiders are much smaller than Tarantula species and named for their appearance (wolf coloring) and behavioral characteristics.
The most notable of the North American Wolf Spider species are large with a fuzzy appearance. Most are found in groups so it was thought they ‘hunted in packs’. In reality, their proximity was likely just that they have such large populations and are simply attracted to the same good habitat with an abundant food supply; free- roaming males, and females usually living in burrows, but both with a territory to defend.
Physical Description
Wolf Spiders have eight legs and eight eyes, a double thorax (cephalothorax and abdomen), and chelicerae (fang-like mouth parts). Their eyes are geared for short, medium, and long range sight, with four small eyes in the row at the bottom of their “face”, two large eyes above, and two medium-sized eyes at the top.
Adult Wolf Spiders are typically an inch or two long, including legs. Many species have a smooth appearance, while others seem knobby and hairy. Most are patterned black, gray, and brown with stripe-like markings on their legs.
Wolf Spider Bites and Life Spans
Wolf Spiders usually do not ‘dry bite’ (without venom). Bites are relatively painful like a hornet sting, but are not lethal to a healthy human. They can cause swelling and even infection, depending on the location where the spiders were found.
Wolf Spiders can live for 3-4 years, commonly inhabiting and hunting in compost piles, grass and leaf litter, near the outer foundations of houses, outbuildings, in basements and under porches; anywhere bugs may be found. They are a crucial part of a healthy ecosystem in areas containing moist soil with leafy debris.
Wolf Spider Ecology
Wolf Spiders are found in many countries throughout the world besides North America and Canada, possibly being the largest species in most areas, other than tropical locations where Tarantula live. There are over 2000 known Wolf Spider species in the world; more than 125 species native to the United States, over 50 species found in Europe, and many catalogued in Australia and other countries.
Wolf spiders are normally outdoor ground dwellers and are not considered pests. They prefer to live in clutter and debris, exactly the places where this species finds its food. Rarely they may come indoors during the fall in colder climates looking for a secure place to spend the winter. This would especially include rustic vacation cabins or outdoor tool sheds, which attract the bugs they eat. They are very fast on their feet, fleeing quickly if disturbed. Generally non-aggressive, they will bite if agitated. They should certainly be approached with respect, but should be relocated and not killed if found in the house.
The Value of Wolf Spiders
The ecological value of Wolf Spiders is legend, and if they can be captured without harm in a small dry container like a paper coffee cup and released outside into a garage or tool shed, they will more than pull their weight in pest control, gobbling millipedes and other insects by the thousands. Handling Wolf Spiders is discouraged because they move very quickly and bite readily. They are also prey to birds and some rodents.
The Grasshopper Mouse is known to be immune to the venom of the scorpions that are part of its diet, but it isn’t confirmed whether other rodents are immune to the Wolf Spider’s venom; and perhaps as the mongoose manages to outdance and then dine on cobras, some wild rats and mice may do a similar dance with the venomous spiders who share their territories, that with a bit of luck in the other direction might even be able to kill them.
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Marie Thomas - Marie Thomas (RieT) is an author in multiple genres, with 18 years in technical writing, and freelance work in science, biographical, and ...
