Spider ID - Believe to be Wolf Spider but Help is Much Appreciated

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
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Your picture reminds me of a line from the song describing the damsel Buttercup: "She might very well pass for 43 in the dusk with the light behind her."
I can definitely say with all certainty, it has eight legs. :)
 

Biollantefan54

Arachnoking
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For once I honestly have no idea...at all. I cant even tell if its a wolf or not. Legs look right...the rest doesn't. Interesting!
 

Spepper

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Thanks guys. Ha, Snark. I'll have to see if I can get a better picture then. And Biollantefan54, I know what you mean. The "splatter" of white on the abdomen has me confused. It's also quite stocky, if you know what I mean.
 

Biollantefan54

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Exactly, the splatter made me think Steatoda MM but then I looked at the legs and was like "Well.....that's not it."
 

Spepper

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Yeah, and this spider is definitely female, or immature and just not showing the difference yet. Being in the bathroom it sort of makes me wonder if somehow (unlikely I know) this spider was unfortunate enough to get some kind of white powder on it. *shrugs*

---------- Post added 10-30-2014 at 07:32 PM ----------


https://www.flickr.com/photos/114543195@N07/15671806362/https://www.flickr.com/people/114543195@N07/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/114543195@N07/15050260434/https://www.flickr.com/people/114543195@N07/
Here's a couple more pictures. Don't know if they're more helpful or not. It's just hard to take pictures of, ha. Oh yeah, and sorry for the lines in the second picture—it's what my iPad does when aimed at too bright lights. :/
 
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Smokehound714

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I cannot ID this, but it's definitely a wolf. If you can, try to find a magnifying lens so you can take closer pics. It's probably either geolycosa, or alopecosa.. hard to say.

the light color is probably dust stuck to the abdomen.
 

Spepper

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Magnifying glass... duh... why didn't I think of that? :o_O: Thanks, I'll try that Smokehound.
 

Spepper

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Well the weirdest thing happened. Yesterday I felt bad for the spider, having been stuck in that barren deli cup for a few days, so I made a little habitat for it, using dirt I brought in from outside. The dirt was moist because it's been raining here. Anyway, this morning I woke up, and the grey spider was now solidly brown and the mysterious white splotch had disappeared completely. It wasn't a new species at all—it was just an immature female A. kochii! I can't figure out how that happened (was really disturbing seeing a previously grey spider be brown) except that maybe the moisture from the dirt somehow made whatever had turned it to grey to come off. She's an avid eater though. :)

Also, I think it's a female because I have an immature male of the same species and she's a little bit bigger than he is, stockier, and shows no signs of bulbous pedipalps like he does.
 

Alokin

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Am i the only one who wants pics....pics or it didnt happen!!! :d
 

Spepper

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Am i the only one who wants pics....pics or it didnt happen!!! :d
There, Alokin. Happy? :)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/114543195@N07/15501354317/https://www.flickr.com/people/114543195@N07/
Sorry this isn't the greatest of pictures. She started to move right as I took it and then my iPad thought it was an opportune time to tell me my storage was full and that it couldn't take any more photos. By the time I cleared up some space, she wasn't in a very good position for photographing. :/ Oh yes, and that misty white thing is a piece of plastic wrap I put in there for a water dish. It has some water in it and for some reason it has condensated on the underside of it.
 

Smokehound714

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Gladicosa is an eastern species. Alopecosa is a turret-builder. Providing them with loose fine sand and small bits of debris will allow turret construction.


One interesting thing about A. kochi, is if its burrow becomes flooded or disturbed, they sometimes leave, and drag their turret with them :D
 

Spepper

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Jul 22, 2013
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745
Thanks for the info, Smokehound. That's interesting about them building turrets, because I've never seen them, and these guys are the most common wolfies around here. It could easily escape my sight though. The dirt she's on is sandy river-side soil, so that should make her happy. She has started to build a burrow between the two lower madrone leaves in the picture as well.
 
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