The wolf spiders are from the family Lycosidae.This agile hunter's gets its name from a Greek word which means "wolf". They are robust hunters with good eyesight. Wolf spiders live a solitary life hunting by themselves.
Some species pounce on their pray or they will even chase their pray for short distances. Few of them even wait for their prey to pass their burrow and then attack. They resemble the Nursery web spiders except for the fact that they attach their egg sac to the spinnerets to carry them.
Physical Features
There are many types of wolf spiders ranging from sizes of 1 to 30 millimeters
(0.04 to 1.8inches). Wolf spiders have eight eyes: four inconspicuous eyes in the bottom row, two massive eyes in the middle row and finally two medium sized eyes in the top row.These features distinguish them from the Nursery web spiders. They depend upon their eyesight for hunting. They also have a very accurate sense of touch.
Wolf spiders have a very interesting way of carrying their eggs. They attach their egg sac to their spinneret at the end of their abdomen. The mother has to keep her abdomen at a raised position to prevent the egg sac from touching the ground. Even under this burden,the mother is able to catch pray easily. Another unique fact is the way the mother takes care of the infants. After the infants are born, they immediately crowd around the mother's legs for protection.
As defense, the wolf spider bites and releases toxin.
Distribution and Habitat
Wolf spiders have a wide range. They are found in all continents except Antarctica and other cold regions. They are found in shrub lands, woodlands, wet coastal forests, alpine meadows and suburban gardens. Some build burrows which have doors or even trapdoors.The arid zone species construct turrets or plug their holes with pebbles and leaves during rainy season to protect themselves from flood water.
Source of picture 1:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_spid
Source of picture 2:http://www.spiderzrule.com/wolf.htm
Hi saketh,
ReplyDeleteit's good one, keep it up. if u want to read some more information about indian spider check this link
http://www.southindianspiders.org/south-indian-spiders.htm
and for world's bigest spider u can see this link
http://www.squidoo.com/world-biggest-spider
prabha
Hi Prabha auntie!! The information was awesome!!!!
ReplyDeleteDon't kill wolf spider bite. They are your friend. You know why? Besides eating various insects, they are the predators to brown recluses. Yeah I'd rather have a wolf spider than a brown recluse running around me any day. Look up what a brown recluse bite can do and you can't kill those with pesticide.
ReplyDelete