Can anyone ID this wolf spider?

[Palespider]

A friend of mine found a wolf spider at his work and brought it home to me.
He's small about 5mm body length. I don't have any actual pictures of the guy, but found this pic on the net which looks identical to him (atleast to my untrained eye).

http://users.hughestech.net/scottjohnson/WebPage/pets/bugs/wolf_00.jpg

They don't say what species of wolf it is at this site though. Does anyone know what species this is? And how big they get?


I get my Carolina's in the mail tomorrow. Can't wait :)

Thanks
Jim B.

[Palespider]

Well, since that link isn't working aymore here's the pic:

[Cooper]

I wish I could help you with the species, but we have wolfies just like that round here. They hang around by the lake in the summer in the rocks. It is always neat observing a female with young on her back!

[Aviculariinae]

That is one nice spider,im starting to like wolf spiders more than actual tarantulas,I have a book at home and ill look it up to see what spider that is!
Can you give me a location as to were it was found!

Damn i wish there were more spiders like them over here! Ye lucky sods!

[genious_gr]

D@mn, those are some nice macros.

I've never seen an ID'd wolf spider before, everyone says its a lycosa sp.

I dont have a clue even if there are any keys to IDing them.....
I would be really interested in it if sth like that does excist

[xanderTluv]

Im currently raising 2 slings of this sp. And your right all I know of it is that it's lycosa sp. But they are just awesome spiders!

[Wade]

I believe that most of the large wolfs in the US have been moved from Lycosa into Hogna. For example, Lycosa carolinensis is now Hogna carolinensis.

The picture looks like the spider listed as the rabid wolf spider in the Audubon Guide to Insects and Spiders, with the latin name Lycosa rabida (probably Hogna now). I don't necessarily trust that book any farthur than I can throw it, however.

Wade

[Palespider]

Yeah, I thought that it may be difficult to ID considering the number of Lycosa species out there. I'm just curious to know if this is a near adult or if it's just a sling given it's tiny size. I actually have 2 that were found in same spot in Boulder, Colorado and the other is about the same size, about a 5mm body length. I can't seem to find anything on the net that resemble this girl. She looks completely different than the pic, much darker and without the striping on the abdomen.

The two have very distinct personalities. One is so docile and calm (the one similar to the pic) while the other is a complete spaz and won't let me come near her. Both are extremely active and fun to watch.

I found this link which had a lot of different species with pics. I'm leaning towards Hogna lenta which is supposed to be a good sized spider. But, it does resemble about 6 other Lycosa sp. that I've seen on the net so far :rolleyes:

http://www.infochembio.ethz.ch/links/en/zool_insekt_wolfssp.html
http://www.floridanature.org/species.asp?species=Hogna_lenta

Jim B.

[xanderTluv]

The mother of the spiderlings I have was about 2 1/2 inches. She carried them on her back for awhile. They are specks right now it would be hard to take a picture, but in a few molts I will! Their mother is exact to that photo!

[Malkavian]

I don't necessarily trust that book any farthur than I can throw it, however.

Wade

Reason for this? :? I'd always been under the impression that Audobon books were reliable...

[Wade]

I'm basing this on complaints from certain entomologists I know. Some of the ID's are apparently not correct (in regards to the photos), and the common name usage is inconsistant with other sources.

It also has a very annoyoing layout. They try to group the photo section according to shape, so the beetle section has many true bugs in it and visa versa. Makes it a real pain to try to find stuff.

Still, it is probably the most useful field guide (at least for insects) we have at this point, I still refer to it often. The golden guide "Spiders and Thier Kin" is usually better for spiders, but I didn't see any pics that looked simmilar. There's a Peterson Guide to Insects that has good information but not as many pictures and nothing at all on spiders.

Wade

[Malkavian]

I've got an OLD edition of Spiders and their kin, really like it, but I find it easier to ID with photographs vs drawings.

I'd guess the layout is more meant for casual collectors who have a bug in front of them and can find it quickly by shape rather than 'pros' who would tend to know an insect's classification (beetle, true bug etc) by observation and look it up from there