The Wolf Spider… What You Need to Know

Many and most spiders have eight legs and eight eyes, but the wolf spider’s eyes are diverse than other species’ because the wolf spider has reflectors in its eyes. Even though there are many different varieties of wolf spiders, they all have reflectors in their eyes. The wolf spider is nocturnal so when it is out at night people can use flashlights to help see the wolf spider. The eyes will shine when the light hits them due to the reflectors in the wolf spiders’ eyes. The wolf spiders’ eyes line up in three rows. The bottom row has four small eyes, the middle row has two large eyes, and then on the top are two middle-sized eyes.

Often times the wolf spider is confused with the fishing spider, nursery spider, or the brown recluse spider. All of these spiders have similar coloring which makes it hard to distinguish which species they are the one thing that will always differentiate the wolf spider from these species is its reflecting eyes. The body of a wolf spider is proportionally small and the legs can span up to five inches. The male wolf spider is always smaller in size than the female wolf spider. Camouflage is a friend of the wolf spider, as its fur is usually camouflaged to match the environment where the particular wolf spider lives. The colors of fur can range from brown, gray, and or black. These camouflage colors help protect the wolf spider from larger predators.

Wolf spiders can be found all over the country, which also makes it harder to physically differentiate them from other spiders because they are not just found in certain areas. The wolf spider prefers to live in dark and moist areas. Wolf spiders can be found living in meadows, wetlands, woods, and even suburban gardens. Another aspect that each variety of wolf spider thinks of when picking a home is if there is enough of a food supply nearby.

Once a wolf spider picks a place to live it will begin making its house. The wolf spider is different from other spiders when it comes to its home, because rather than making a web and dwelling on it the wolf spider burrows. The burrow provides protection from enemies, bad weather, and provides a place to keep and protect the wolf spider’s eggs. Sometimes wolf spiders will even make their burrows beneath things like rocks. There are also occasions where the wolf spider doesn’t even need to dig a burrow because they will just move into a burrow another animal has abandoned. Wolf spiders spend most of their time in their burrows. They, of course, come out at night in order to hunt for food. Inside the burrow, the wolf spider might spin a silk web on the floor or even as a semi door to protect from things outside or bad weather. Even though wolf spiders can live in any environment they do not always like to be in the cold weather. Once it starts to cool down there is a high chance of wolf spiders migrating towards homes where they can go for warmth.

There is always a chance of finding wolf spiders within your home, especially during the fall and winter seasons, but there are things one can do to help protect their home from being invaded by wolf spiders. Some places you might find a wolf spider in your house are window frames, doorways, garages, basements or on houseplants. Remember that wolf spiders like dark and damp places to live. The thought of wolf spiders in your home is frightening, but they are also good because they eat other small insects. In any case, it is best to call your local Spider Control Adelaide service to come over and inspect your house.

Many spiders are poisonous and scary. While the wolf spider does have poison and looks very scary, it is most often harmless to people. The poison the wolf spider has is used for its own prey when hunting and killing for food. Although in rare cases, people can be allergic to the venom, the person will not know they are allergic to the venom until they have experienced a wolf spider bite. Wolf spiders will not bite someone unless the person is bothering or provoking the wolf spider; so finding out if you are allergic or not might not ever happen. In any situation do not try to harm the wolf spider as that is only putting you in more danger. If the rare occurrence does happen and you are bitten by a wolf spider try to catch the spider and take it with you to the doctor. This will help identify if it was an actual wolf spider that bit you. Just as with many other types of pest bites – keep calm and elevate the area where the bite occurred and applies a cold compress. The only thing that will become very noticeable and will alert you if you are allergic to wolf spider venom is that the skin around the bite mark can turn black if you are allergic and also it is necessary to be aware with wolf spider prevention tips.

Wolf spiders will never just hurt someone or something unless it happens to be its next meal. Small insects are the main food group for wolf spiders. When the wolf spider hunts, it moves very fast in order to catch its prey. Ants, grasshoppers, earwigs, beetles, roaches, crickets, and other spiders are usually part of a wolf spider’s meal. Once the wolf spider catches its prey they use their legs and palps to help hold down the prey and use their jaw to crush and kill the prey. Then the wolf spider can eat.