Stone spider hunter of wolf spiders?

My Drassodes lapidosus was refusing to eat anything I put in with it and as she shed recently she was getting pretty skinny, until that is I gave it a wolf spider (which here in the uk aren't very big) which it actually chased down :O It was awesome to watch but if I could I'd prefer it if there was a different feeding option in case she ever accidentally got bit though it seems she's pretty pro at it. My first spider (which got rid of my phobia last year) was a Drassodes cupreus which now that I think back took a lot of effort to make it feed on a cricket but at one point I put a wolf spider in and it devoured it instantly, so is this a recognised thing that these guys hunt wolves? If so I'm going to be calling ground spiders Bear spiders from now on XD
Here's a pic of her munching down on the wolf:

In case anyone's wondering she has a 4 cm leg span (like an inch and a half). They're pretty fast but not aggressive so reasonably easy to handle. no heat or humidity requirements.

I've heard of spiders that specifically hunt other spiders but I'm not exactly a true spider expert. Prefer Ts. But I wouldn't suggest feeding wolves cause they could possibly
kill your drassodes.

King Sparta said:

I've heard of spiders that specifically hunt other spiders but I'm not exactly a true spider expert. Prefer Ts. But I wouldn't suggest feeding wolves cause they could possibly
kill your drassodes.

Click to expand...

I was thinking the same but she's either apathetic if not terrified of anything else, in the garden there are a bunch of these guys along with tonnes of wolf spiders so it does seem like it's her natural prey but still I really wouldn't want to lose her. The only webs these ones make are little pockets that are fully sealed off from the outside which she occasionally leaves to run about a bit before returning. I've tried little mealworms, crickets, woodlice, ants etc but she barely notices them and if she does she runs. I have yet to try flies though so that's the next idea but how she'd catch one I'm not sure :/

---------- Post added 05-17-2015 at 05:51 PM ----------

oh yeah something weird about this one in particular is that her abdomen is actually rose tinted and there's a bit on her carapace too which is not characteristic of a lapidosus or any other gnaph that I know of (not that I know very many) so yeah anyone know what that's about because apart from that she looks very much like a lapidosus. perhaps a regional variation or something? I've heard that Drassodes lapidosus was at one point used as a blanket species too so yeah. The photo shows the colour very slightly but in reality it's a lot more noticeably pinky redy coloured on the abdomen

A lot of people, especially on this forum, overlook the fact many species of spiders are hunters of other spiders. If you think about it, spiders in general are a much more available food source than animals like pinhead crickets, ff's, mealworms etc..

I think many spiders (especially ground-dwelling species) are very generalistic when it comes to prey items, so it's not surprising that yours loves to eat other spiders. Kind of odd that it seems hesitant of other prey items, but I guess if it's used to eating wolf spiders, that's what it may just be most comfortable eating.

pannaking22 said:

I think many spiders (especially ground-dwelling species) are very generalistic when it comes to prey items, so it's not surprising that yours loves to eat other spiders. Kind of odd that it seems hesitant of other prey items, but I guess if it's used to eating wolf spiders, that's what it may just be most comfortable eating.

Click to expand...

I agree, it is only it's dislike of anything else that I find interesting, especially as I just tested it's reaction to a baby orb weaver and despite it's tiny size and it being a spider, Ursus (named her Ursus as it's latin for bear ^_^) hilariously was even terrified of this puny existence, giving it threat postures and everything before thickening her web shielding. Seems like wolf spider may indeed be the only option right now, not that I have a shortage of them

---------- Post added 05-18-2015 at 05:35 PM ----------

The Snark said:

A lot of people, especially on this forum, overlook the fact many species of spiders are hunters of other spiders. If you think about it, spiders in general are a much more available food source than animals like pinhead crickets, ff's, mealworms etc..

Click to expand...

Indeed, her extreme reluctance for anything but wolf spiders I felt was still something of interest though

gnaphosids are known for being spider hunters. They're very fast and agile predators, I often see many eating larger spiders than themselves.

Smokehound714 said:

gnaphosids are known for being spider hunters. They're very fast and agile predators, I often see many eating larger spiders than themselves.

Click to expand...

ah yes I remember you've owned a few yourself, what did you feed yours?

Smokehound714 said:

gnaphosids are known for being spider hunters. They're very fast and agile predators, I often see many eating larger spiders than themselves.

Click to expand...

Or take the pholcids that seem to be more adept and wrangling fellow spiders than grabbing flying insects.

Yes! I finally got her to eat a little mealworm ^_^ she was getting pretty hungry I think

Thats pretty neat! This is the same deal with one of my WC scorpions-Smeringurus Vachoni- it only eats spiders lol

Scorpster1 said:

Thats pretty neat! This is the same deal with one of my WC scorpions-Smeringurus Vachoni- it only eats spiders lol

Click to expand...

Probably due to their habitat... WC arachnids actually do have prey preferences, especially scorpions. smeringurus (both vachoni and mesaensis) probably eat mostly Syspira and various solifugae predominantly throughout the year. Especially vachoni, since they favor talus slopes, of which Syspira are heavily attracted to.