Wolf Spider
A few weeks ago, Aaron Wadley’s dog went missing. A day later, his cat vanished. The day after that, the neighbor called to ask if Aaron had seen her children—
Oh, come on, that would have been an awesome story and you know it!
This 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 are some of the largest spiders that aren’t tarantulas. Think of them as “heavyweight” spiders (tarantulas are “superheavyweight”). I don’t know the exact species, but a very similar-looking wolf spider we have out here is Lycosa rabida, which literally means “rabid wolf spider”.
Aaron has this to say about her:
We’ve got tons of these guys running around my neighborhood. The subdivision was built on farmland that had sat undeveloped for years, maybe that has something to do with the proliferation of these. Anyway, I’ve convinced my family that having them around is a good thing. Although one this size must be removed from the actual house, per my wife’s orders. This one’s body was approximately 1″ long. Their dark color makes them stand out quite visibly on the light-colored tile in the house.
This is a fantastic observation, because the same thing is happening out here. We have lots of L. rabida running around because my subdivision was farmland as recently as 2003.
Slowly getting the site back onto an even keel. It's nice to get back into the old posting rhythm.
Kestralyn said,
May 16, 2008 @ 7:23 am
AAAAAHHHHHH!!!! TOO BIG!!
Ok, now that I’m over the stroke I got when the page loaded, that’s a fantastic photo! She’s got bristles on her legs — so cool!
JFargo said,
May 16, 2008 @ 8:13 am
Huge, and awesome picture. I especially like looking at it bigger. So detailed!
jerith said,
May 16, 2008 @ 8:42 am
I once shared a tent with two spiders of this general type (one about 2cm, the other about 1.5cm). Everyone else spent a lot of time chasing similar spiders out of their tends and scratching mosquito bites…
Scott said,
May 16, 2008 @ 8:52 am
*full body shudder* Great pic though.
AJ said,
May 16, 2008 @ 11:43 am
Thank you Aaron for convincing your family about the usefulness of spiders! We can peacefully co-exist
(although even bug-loving me might freak out a bit if I woke up to one of those walking on me. Those leg bristles have to tickle)
CyberLizard said,
May 16, 2008 @ 1:04 pm
I was amazed at the bristles too, when I uploaded the pictures and saw her in detail. I would love to do some photoshopping and use her in one of those cheezy B-movie shots where the giant bug invades a city
(anyone out there with more skill than I, please feel free).
I’ve actually been making a conscious effort to appreciate spiders, but it’s still creepy when I go to scoop one of these up in a cup and hundreds of tiny baby spiders swarm off of her back! Almost as creepy as walking into a web in the woods and hearing the sound of a huge golden orb weaver’s feet scrambling on your hat!