Hunting For Wolf Spiders

Ratmosphere · Sep 26, 2015

Anyone have tips on hunting for big wolf spiders at night?

Chris LXXIX · Sep 26, 2015

Patience, a lot of patience.
That's how we spot and find here Lycosa tarantula, the "first-born" of those

Not me, because i live in the north, but loyal friends gave me one way years ago.

ReignofInvertebrates · Sep 26, 2015

I'd love to own an L. tarantula.. Well I've found that adult females are typically found in burrows, but when dusk falls I find some pretty large ones in leaf litter and under rocks. It depends on a lot of things, some evenings I'll find three T. helluo, others there'll be nothing. Spiders in the genus Hogna have so far seemed pretty uncommon for me up north, but you should have some baltimoriana. Used to have a lot of those.

OliverWhatever · Sep 26, 2015

Just don't let it bite you, you might get tarantism :biggrin:

Ratmosphere · Sep 27, 2015

Could they be found in the daytime? I usually find fishing spiders under logs and such but never wolf spiders.

ReignofInvertebrates · Sep 27, 2015

I find quite a few during the day, but most of the larger species from my experience stay well hidden during those hours. Either that, or I just get unlucky. XD

Biollantefan54 · Sep 27, 2015

Get a headlamp and just look around. You will see their eyes glowing from a good distance away.

pitbulllady · Sep 27, 2015

Biollantefan54 said:
Get a headlamp and just look around. You will see their eyes glowing from a good distance away.

Second that! I bought a high-powered rechargeable LED headlamp(up to 5000 lumens and four hours full power) off Amazon, and it really works great for spotting Wolf Spiders, Fishing Spiders and other spiders that hunt by sight, since their eyes are highly reflective and you can spot them from a long distance. Our property at night looks like a small galaxy, lol. I know a lot of people who'd freak out if they had any idea how many spiders are in close proximity to them every day and night. These spiders will let you get very close to them with a light, too, since they "freeze" like a rabbit when caught in a beam of light. I've caught some really large Hogna carolinensis and Rabida rabidosa using a head lamp.

Biollantefan54 · Sep 27, 2015

pitbulllady said:
Second that! I bought a high-powered rechargeable LED headlamp(up to 5000 lumens and four hours full power) off Amazon, and it really works great for spotting Wolf Spiders, Fishing Spiders and other spiders that hunt by sight, since their eyes are highly reflective and you can spot them from a long distance. Our property at night looks like a small galaxy, lol. I know a lot of people who'd freak out if they had any idea how many spiders are in close proximity to them every day and night. These spiders will let you get very close to them with a light, too, since they "freeze" like a rabbit when caught in a beam of light. I've caught some really large Hogna carolinensis and Rabida rabidosa using a head lamp.

I have gotten my grandma to like spiders now and she was amazed when I showed her all the wolfies in her yard! She said "Now I feel bad when I walk around!". I have found some massive D. vittatus here. R. rabida, Pardosa sp., and S. avida seem to be the most common wolfs here, sadly I haven't found any H. carolinensis :\

Ratmosphere · Sep 27, 2015

Awesome! I'll have to get a head lamp soon. Today I went looking for wolf spiders but had no luck in finding one. I did collect Dolomedes tenebrosus though. Are fishing spiders faster than wolf spiders?

Smokehound714 · Sep 27, 2015

Most wolves are active and can be spotted by their eyeshine.

To find wolves via eyeshine, use a weak light rather than a strong light. It will make their eyes stand out more.

They can also be found by searching for turrets.

Hogna, geolycosa and alopecosa make turrets.

Arctosa can be found around sandy areas, particularly along shorelines and beaches.

Geolycosa also tend to prefer sandy areas. Dunes are a good bet for those.

ReignofInvertebrates · Sep 27, 2015

Smokehound714 said:
Hogna, geolycosa and alopecosa make turrets.

Geolycosa also tend to prefer sandy areas. Dunes are a good bet for those.

What does the burrow of say a Hogna look like? I see so many holes in the ground and never know what they belong to. I also don't know how I'd properly extract the spider.

CoinJar · Sep 27, 2015

I literally used to see thsee everywhere at my work; around the trash cans, under displays, under the bushes, around the sidewalks, etc. Now that I actually want one, I haven't seen them in months.

The Snark · Sep 27, 2015

Recollections. As a kid visiting family friends. Her house was in the fields south of Chula Vista near the Mexican border. (Now nary a field to be seen today). Weak porch light out back. Vast unmowed back yard. The eye shine reminded me of watching a wave come up on the beach under the moonlight there were so many pairs of eyes. An undulating free for all as the lycos ranged. How the agelenopsis, their webs nearly carpeting the area, survived is still a mystery to me.

windscorpions1 · Sep 27, 2015

The best place to hunt wolf spiders is....my basement during the winter. Seriously they're that common that I've taken to not leaving my hunting boots on the floor in the basement :/

Chris LXXIX · Sep 27, 2015

OliverWhatever said:
Just don't let it bite you, you might get tarantism :biggrin:

Ah ah, i would never manage to figure out that, man. Southern Italian Folklore at it's finest, i think.
Yeah, the bite is (i assume, never been bitten by one of those) a bit painful.. but seriously? Music.. weird stuff.. amulets..? Like in Haiti during Voodoo dance? :-O

Ratmosphere · Sep 28, 2015

What do wolf spider turrets look like? How could I coax the spider out of the turret? Also, are fishing spiders faster than wolf spiders?

Smokehound714 · Sep 29, 2015

Turrets can vary in appearance.. it depends on what kind of debris covers the ground. in prairies and savannah-type habitats, they'll usually weave dead grass, in shrubland and thornscrub type habitats, they'll use small sticks. In areas devoid of debris they'll make smaller turrets, mostly composed of fine sediment, and their turrets wont be as large.

They're generally easier to find in grasslands, as the woven grass is easily spotted, looks kinda like a bird's-nest. Geolycosa weave similar turrets.

pannaking22 · Sep 29, 2015

Ratmosphere said:
What do wolf spider turrets look like? How could I coax the spider out of the turret? Also, are fishing spiders faster than wolf spiders?

You can usually coax them out with a small piece of grass. Mess with their webbing a little bit and you might be able to get them to come out. You'd probably have a better chance during the evening when they're in full hunting mode.

From what I've seen, fishing spiders (assuming Dolomedes) are significantly faster than lycosids, though Arctosa littoralis could probably give them a run for their money.

Ratmosphere · Sep 29, 2015

Awesome! I hope to find some soon. Thank you everyone!

Hunting For Wolf Spiders

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