Wolfish Musings

I’ve been neglecting the arthropods in my life. The slobbering and mewling furry creatures tend to occupy my field of vision more readily and so the little fellows don’t always get the attention they deserve. Fortunately I saw something incredible that made me think. Thinking, in my case at least, leads to writing. So here’s a bit about wolf spiders.

I was watering my flowers in the front of the house two nights ago and I must have showered a wolf spider because she scurried from the flower bed and across the pavement. I only got a quick look at her before she disappeared in a crack in the sidewalk, but it was enough to send me sprinting up the stairs for my camera. Alas, I couldn’t find her again when I returned, but I knew I wasn’t crazy. She had a large white ball attached to the underside of her abdomen. Wow, I thought, was that an egg sac?

Turns out it was. I would never have guessed spiders to be attentive mothers, but some, like wolf spiders and nursery spiders carry their egg sacs around until they hatch. Wolf spiders attach the egg sac to their spinnerets. They do this because, as their name suggests, they’re active hunters. Spiders in the Lycosidae family don’t spin webs, they seek out prey so while they’re hunting, they need a safe place for their egg sac. When the eggs hatch, the mother will carry the young on her abdomen until after their first molt.

Wolf spiderlings disperse aerially so the spiders have a large habitat range. And they don’t have toxic venom, which is what everyone always wants to know. So if you see one, wish her luck on her next hunt and let her be. I’ve been searching for the one I saw two days ago so I could see her hatchlings, but with no luck. Wolf spiders don’t set up a permanent residence, they’re itinerant killers I suppose.