Wolf Spider
This is one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of spiders that inhabit my back lawn. Too lazy to actually comb through the lawn for victims, she is lurking in the dog’s water bowl, looking up at the edge, waiting for prey to appear. Life imitating art, I guess¹: she is camping the water hole.
I really got lucky with this photo. The hairs standing out on her abdomen came out in focus and the flash got reflected in her eyes just right. I like how this picture really shows that her body is quite tall, lifting the eyes up high like a conning tower, so she can see clearly while she runs.
And run she does. This is a very fast spider. I don’t know the species but the eyesight and the speed are indicative of the general group of arachnids known as wolf spiders. This particular species is also quite social. Though they do not hunt in packs like wolves, they do get along quite nicely, unlike most jumping spiders which will happily eat their own species. Not these gals. There were three in the other water dish, and these two were huddled next to each other:
¹ Unless you’re one of those people who believe video games are not art. Then it’s just… life imitating… a video game, I guess.
Tiogshi Laj said,
May 9, 2008 @ 8:49 am
Neat. I had thought occasional cannibalism was the accepted norm across the entire entonivorous (”eats insects”, spelling?) sector of the animal kingdom.
David Brady said,
May 9, 2008 @ 8:59 am
I’m not sure if there’s a specific term for it. For example, ants and bees are usually social within their colony, many wasps are social within their species (if you destroy a paper wasp nest, the queen may rebuild or she may simply take her drones and move in with another queen).
Among spiders, social behavior is rare. Jumping spiders in particular have no problem eating one another. There is a species of web-weaving spider that will make community webs, and I’ve seen them crawl all over each other in their webs without having issues.
These spiders have no problem hanging out together and running overtop one another whenever people get near. It’s interesting.
Scott said,
May 9, 2008 @ 9:00 am
See it’s pictures like that that kick my arachnophobia up a notch. I don’t know what it is about them, maybe it’s that they’re not as cute as jumpers or as beautiful as orb weavers. They’re total hunting/killing machines.
JFargo said,
May 9, 2008 @ 10:13 am
Yeah. I’m overcoming my arachnophobia instinct, but for some reason, no matter how small, Wolf Spiders creep me out.
Peggysue Brady said,
May 9, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
Since it’s Spider Friday and I myself am an arachnophobe, may I propose another medical condition? An Arachnoleptic Fit: The dance one does after walking through a spider web that clings to ones skin.
Kestralyn said,
May 9, 2008 @ 2:48 pm
Actually, I almost like wolf spiders more than other ones, and I’m borderline arachnophobic. There’s something about the fact that I can see their face that makes them less ooky to me.
Granted, she looks like she wants to eat my face, but only if I’m the only thing handy
bbot said,
May 9, 2008 @ 5:09 pm
Arachnophobe here, and I don’t mind the hunting/jumping spiders, but the web spinning spiders are creepy as hell.
A whole spectrum of neurosises, in the comments section here.
MacNut said,
May 9, 2008 @ 9:12 pm
Nice spider picture as always. Funny how they congregate in your dog’s water bowls.
Gee, I wonder how all you arachnophobes would react to the likes of, say a Goliath bird-eating spider? As in meeting one face to face while out for a walk or something?
JFargo said,
May 10, 2008 @ 6:28 am
MacNut, I’ll tell you something that’s strange about me: Big spiders don’t bother me at all.
Tiny ones? Black Widow-sized? Wolf Spiders that are small and fast? They freak me out.
Tarantulas? I think they’re awesome, and have let one crawl on me.
Okay, that freaked me out a little bit, but not nearly as much as when a bigger one is on me.
JFargo said,
May 10, 2008 @ 6:29 am
Smaller one, I meant. Bah.
Scott said,
May 15, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
Bigger is not necesarily creepier.
Insect Picture of the Day » Wolf Spider said,
May 16, 2008 @ 7:04 am
[…] is a wolf spider. Not a tiny one like the one from last week, though; this one is at the other end of the size spectrum. With a body length of over 2.5cm, these […]
arthropods in water said,
May 16, 2008 @ 10:57 am
[…] version This is one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of spiders that inhabit my back lawn. Too lahttp://www.insectpod.com/2008/05/09/wolf-spider-2/In print Science NewsA squishy squid has some chemical tricks that help it hold on to its tough, […]