While they depend on their good eyesight to hunt, their sense of touch is also acute. Known as the sprinters of the spider world, wolf spiders can move very fast when catching prey. The behavior of wolf spiders varies from species to species. Lycosa lapidosa will take small toads and frogs while Lycosa obscuroides has been noted biting and killing a large toad within one hour. Two wolf spider species are known to be predators of cane toads. They inject their venom into their prey, which liquefies the prey’s internal organs! Wolf spiders often jump on their prey, hold it between their legs and roll over on their backs, trapping their prey with their limbs before biting it. Some wolf spiders hunt in a set territory and return to a specific place to feed, while others wander nomadically with no territory or home. Thanks to their excellent night vision, they primarily hunt in the dark. Some species chase down and grab their prey, while others wait for it to walk by and ambush it. Less commonly they will eat small reptiles and amphibians. Wolf spiders are insectivores and eat mostly ground-dwelling insects and other spiders, such as grasshoppers, ants and beetles. Wolf spiders are often confused with the Brown Recluse spider, however, they lack the violin-shaped marking of the recluse. Wolf spiders do not spin a web, instead, they roam at night to hunt for food. Wolf spiders are commonly found around doors, windows, house plants, basements, garages and in almost all terrestrial habitats. Wolf spiders are commonly known as household pests as when the weather starts getting colder, they look for warm places to overwinter in homes.

Sometimes they dig burrows or make holes under rocks or logs to live in. The dark, mottled colors on their bodies help them blend in with decaying plant matter while hunting or avoiding predators. They typically live on the ground, though some are known to climb partly up trees to catch their prey. They can be found in a wide range of habitats both coastal and inland - anywhere they can find insects to eat! These include shrub lands, woodland, wet coastal forest, alpine meadows and suburban gardens. Spiderlings disperse aerially and, consequently, wolf spiders have wide distributions. Wolf spiders live almost everywhere in the world, besides the extreme polar region and the Antarctic. The wolf spider has a lifespan of around 1 year, although it can rarely life up to 18 months old. Wolf Spiders eyes reflect light well and one way of finding them is to hunt at night using a flashlight strapped to ones forehead so that the light from the light is reflected from their eyes directly back toward its source. Despite this, they cannot move their eyes and rely on their wide vision to see. Unlike most other arachnids, which are generally blind or have poor vision, wolf spiders have excellent eyesight. The bottom row consists of four small eyes, the middle row has two very large eyes and the top row has two medium-sized eyes. Wolf Spiders have eight eyes arranged in three rows. The sides of their jaws may have a small raised orange spot or ‘boss’, too. They also have three tiny claws at the end of their legs, which help them hunt. In general their coloration is appropriate to their favoured habitat. Because they depend on camouflage for protection, wolf spiders do not have the flashy appearance of some other kinds of spiders. The spiders undersides are light grey, cream or black, sometimes salmon pink. They are hairy and typically brown, grey or tan in color with distinct dark markings on their back, which is sometimes called a Union Jack impression. Wolf Spiders range from about half an inch to 2 inches in length, with males being smaller than females. Keep reading on to find out more about these interesting arachnids. The wolf spider is widespread and most species are not endangered. Their name comes from the Ancient Greek word λύκος, meaning “wolf”.

The Carolina wolf spider (Hogna carolinensis) is the official state spider of South Carolina, which is the only state that has a state spider. This family belongs to the order of Araneae, which includes all known spiders. There are more than 100 genera and about 2,300 species of wolf spiders 200 species live in the United States. Wolf spiders resemble nursery web spiders (family Pisauridae), however, they carry their egg sacs by attaching them to their spinnerets (instead of by means of their jaws and pedipalps). Wolf spiders are robust, fast and agile hunters that rely on good eyesight to hunt, typically at night. They are so named because their method of hunting is to run down their prey like that of a wolf. Wolf Spiders are members of the family Lycosidae.

North carolina wolf spider