Wolf Spiders (Lycosidae)

More Spider Resources Carolina Wolf Spider Hogna Genus Rabid Wolf Spider Thin Legged Wolf Spider Nursery Web Spiders Types of Spiders

Wolf spiders (family Lycosidae) belong to the hunting spider category. They walk, or more often run, along the ground and among rocks and leaf piles searching out prey.

Over a dozen different genera, consisting of over two hundred species call some part of the United States home, making them one of the most abundant and commonly seen spiders.

Identifying a wolf spider usually begins by seeing the broad outline of a dull brown, gray or black body, which has a light color stripe on the middle of the cephlothorax.

The abdomen may or may not have a stripe pattern. While they do share physical similarities with funnel web spiders, the typical wolf spider does not have extended spinnerets visible on the bottom of the abdomen.

One exception to the general identification rule exists for the Genus Sosippus, or Funnel Web Wolf Spiders.

Different Lycosidae species range in size from the smaller thin legged wolf spiders to the largest species of the Hogna genus, which can grow to three inches in length, including the leg span.

Females, like the one in the above picture, carry their egg sac around with them. Once born, the young spiders hop on their mom's back for a couple of weeks before they go their separate ways.

Compare their child rearing practice with the practice of Nursery Web Spiders, who carry their egg sacs in their jaws.

The National Institute of Health has a couple of articles about wolf spider bites and they summarize them as follows,

"Because of their dark color and hunting habits, wolf spiders (Lycosidae) are often confused with the much more dangerous brown recluse spider (Loxosceles reclusa). Unlike the brown recluse spider, wolf spider envenomation seldom causes cutaneous necrosis or systemic symptoms."

Like all spiders, wolf spiders bite, but their bite is considered more annoying than dangerous.

© 2005-2009 Patricia A. Michaels