Wolf Spider & Egg Sac

Hitching a Ride

Ready to Run!

Steppin' on Momma's Face

Carolina Wolf Spider
Hogna carolinensis

The Carolina Wolf Spider is one of the largest species of wolf spiders in North America. But enough about this lady herself, this post is all about the miracle of motherhood and wolf spiders do it somethin’ special.

So, first off – wolf spiders don’t create a nice cozy web home. They are nomadic. They wander your yards actively hunting to survive. So when it is time for a brood, they weave up a tidy little egg sac and carry it around with them. The egg sac starts out shiny and white, but as time goes on it starts getting dark and dingy. That means it’s almost time for the babies to make their first appearance (9-27 days later)!

After the babies hatch, they climb on momma’s back and hang out for some time. They aren’t quite ready to go it on their own yet. So they’ll hitch a ride for a couple weeks until they are big and strong enough to hunt on their own.

Then, finally, when they are ready to go it alone – they start scattering! Momma is ever so patient and lets the kids crawl all around on her and then finally run amok off.

So these definitely aren’t all the same spider. I didn’t keep one with me and get to watch all this happens. I found the top spider in spring time at the front of the yard. I was hollering at J to run and grab me something to catch her in! Last summer I actually saw quite a few mommas carrying egg sacs. The one with the babies hatched was found in the backyard when I was pulling weeds in the grass. Again, I was hollering and yelling for J to run and grab me something while I kept an eye on her (oh, patient husband). We took a few quick shots and released.

Finally, the mom with babies ready to leave was an amazing stroke of luck. I was coming home late from my meetup and the porch was dark. I saw something huge move as I walked up. There she was – and the babies had just started to scatter. I brought her in and carefully took a few photos. When most the kids started getting rambunctious I took her back outside and let them go in the grass. Eek! How fun!

So, three different spiders over the course of the summer and I have at least a few pics of this awesome process. Maybe next summer I’ll be able to get better photos.

Dead Rabid Wolf Spider Top

Bottom

Rabidosa rabida

Holy Rabid Wolf Spider Carnage! This was a sad sad site indeed. But I promise – I didn’t kill it! I found him dead and dried up on my front porch last summer. But if he could have stretched his legs out he would have been impressive indeed.

Though I often mess up my sex identification, this one is a male due to his front legs being distinctly dark brown/black. Since females generally get even larger – his size was awesome. These gloriously large wolf spiders are found all over the eastern US and parts of the Midwest but haven’t really penetrated the western states. Like other wolf spiders, they do not spin webs to catch prey but rather are super excellent hunters. For that reason, they are great to have in the yard as they do a stellar job of controlling other insect populations. They will rarely enter your house – usually only if they are following a food source inside.

Rabid Wolf Spider Parenthood
Before comes babies, comes the fun part – reproduction. When a male spots a female to meet with he will move his front legs around in enticing ways and even make small noises to get her attention. After the magic happens the female will make a bright white silk egg sac for her brood. She’ll carry that egg sac around with her turning it dingy and brown. Once the bitties finally hatch she will carry them on her back for a few days before they scatter and make their own. 

So… Rabid = fear of waters & insanity & death fo’sure, right?!
Nope. In fact, these spiders are completely harmless to humans. They can bite you if you harass them, but the bite isn’t toxic. People fear the bite because of the size of the spider, but it really poses no threat. Interestingly enough the rabid wolf spider’s closest European relative, the Lycosa tarentula, once carried with it the crazy legend that if bitten the only possible way to survive is to dance the “wildly provocative tarentella” (an Italian dance). Ok, so maybe a bit of insanity – but awesome booty shakin’ craziness rather than encephalitic craziness! 

Immature Gold Orb Weaver

Mature Golden Orb Weaver

Argiope aurantia

This spider has many aliases. Some of them include: Golden Orb Weaver, Yellow Garden Spider, Yellow Orb Weaver, Writing Spider, Black & Yellow Argiope, and the Corn Spider. I called her “Awesome”.

The top spider lived on our front porch (Holly Springs, NC) for a few weeks. The bottom spider made it’s home at the Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, NC.

Zig Zag

These spiders are called writing spiders because of the zig-zag that crosses vertically through it’s web. It’s called a stabilimenta or web-decoration. Many different weavers make these web decorations and in a variety of forms from an X to a cross to horizontal zig-zags, etc. As far as the purpose of the pattern – it’s not really understood. Some people think that it is to alert birds and other larger animals so that they avoid the nest. Some people thing that it makes the spider appear bigger and more dangerous – again helping to keep it safe from predators. Even more, the web decorations may use ultraviolet light reflections to attract prey. Daily the females will eat the bulk of their web and rebuild it. Pop-culture reference: it is thought that E.B. White used the web decorations of similar spiders as the idea of Charlotte’s Web.

Habitat

So, Wikipedia says that these spiders are common in the 48 states and other areas – but I never encountered one before moving to NC where they seem pretty common over the warm summer months. The create webs in fairly safe areas that aren’t exposed to too much wind. The webs can get as big as 2 feet in diameter. They are general pretty stagnant when they establish a home. That’s why the female above became a pal. She made her web right by our front porch and stayed there for weeks.

She dealt well with my peering curiosity every time I entered and left the house. Though, when I got to close she would hold tight in the center of her web and vibrate furiously! She would send the whole web bouncing but she held tight. Clearly a defensive move but others suggest that they also do it when they catch prey to ensure that they are thoroughly snagged.

Mating

Like many species, sexual dimorphism means that the males are significant smaller and more boring than the females. The males can get to be 3/4 of an inch. The females can reach 3 inches in diameter. They mate once per year, after which the male dies and it usually consumed. The females die when winter comes. The egg sacs, up to 4, release their teeny tiny spiders in the spring. These bitty babies are so small that they look like bits of dust in the web. Some let out thread to catch the wind and take them to a new home (just like in our favorite children’s spider story). Then it starts again. The females, when immature, are generally more narrow like the the top photo above. Toward the end of the summer they start taking on a rounder shape and prove to be an impressive size. The photo below – that spider was big. She was the most impressive spider I have seen in a natural habitat. I couldn’t get too close to her trampling plants but I wish I could have taken some closer shots. There was a male at the corner of her web that I did photograph, but he’s so small that he’s hard to make out. Must have been somewhat intimidating…

Anyhow, like most spiders – these big ladies are not at all dangerous to people. They can bite if you mishandle them but the bite will likely result in some itching, redness, and slight soreness that goes away pretty quickly. They are impressive hunters and non-aggressive so if you see them hanging out neat your porch – let them stay.

Unidentified Orb Weaver

Orb Weaver Eating A Katydid

Neoscona crucifera 

or

Araneus cavaticus

So here’s the thing – this was gross. Really gross. And really awesome. And right in our front yard. I still haven’t quite figured out what sort of spider she is beyond an orb weaver. I’m leaning toward the first identification.

Orb weavers are nocturnal. We first spotted this lady sometime in the late summer – maybe July-ish. She was first by our porch, making an impressive web from our hanging basked anchored to the ground every single night around dusk. Every single morning within an hour of sunrise – she’d have the web completely taken down. She’d do the same thing over and over again, every night. Then we lost her. She stopped building her web nightly. A few weeks later we saw her, at least I think it was her, slightly more plump and building her nightly web from our pear tree just about 20 feet from her previous nesting spot. One morning I was making coffee and looked out front to see some sort commotion seemingly floating in air, but massive enough from me to see (maybe 40 feet away).

I ran out and caught her, early morning, eating the guts out of a large katydid! It was a gruesome but neat too. Husband was a bit grossed out but didn’t protest too much when I started snapping photos. And that’s that!

I hadn’t seen this spider before, but a bug man out here who I bothered said that they see them all over the place late summer and that most people call them “Garden Spiders”. She was non-aggressive and didn’t mind me checking her out regularly but generally took to hiding near one of the anchors of her massive webs until she caught something.

Yes these photos are less lovely and more gross, but she was so fascinating I had put her up here! Yip!

Jumping Spider Side View

Jumping Spider Front View

Jumping Spider Front - No Flash

Phidippus mystaceus

But we called her Franklin, which is somewhat unfortunate that she got a boy name before I realized she was a +ahem+, she. She was found hanging around outside of my office by a coworker in Cary, NC. I scooped her up, took him home and got a few photographs before letting her make a home in my hanging baskets out front (where she stayed for a bit).

Jumping spiders are actually the largest family of spiders (accounting for 13% of all spiders) and they are found all over the world. The one above can be found on my porch. ;o)

She’s a jumping spider, and boy oh boy can she can jump far…

So, Franklin the lady can grow up to one centimeter in body length. Her latin name comes from mustache (does the humiliation ever stop!) but she used to be known by an acronym for the tufts of hair that resemble donkey ears…

Jumping spiders can jump from 10 to 80 times their body length via a wicked neat internal hydraulics system. But generally it’s their unusual eye pattern that makes them easy to recognize – they have 8 eyes with two large ones up front that enable stereoscopic vision. Their vision is thought to better than all spiders and most, if not all, other insects. Because of their good eyesight, they will eat dead prey (most other spiders only capture and eat live prey due to their inability to “see” food sources that are not moving). Which means, a jumping spider might make a good spider pet. You can feed him/her delicious dead insects. Some jumping spiders even eat pollen and nectar as well.

Jumping spiders are awesome at mimicry (from mimicking plants, to ants, to beetles & such) and are excellent hunters. The female will sometimes make a silk tent to lay her eggs, but otherwise they don’t make webs. Because, who has time for weaving silly webs when you are out jumping, maneuvering and hunting like mad? They do use their silk as a tether when jumping about though.

Jumping spiders are also known as inquisitive spiders because they don’t shy away from humans. Often they will look directly at our big monstrous hand coming toward them and may even lift up their front to legs as a bit of a challenge. Shy? No way. Watch your back. They may jump on your face!

Franklin was awesome and did not jump on my face, or my camera lens – but rather allowed me to gawk for ten minutes, touch and then take her outside. Jumping spiders can bite and most have venom that will hurt – but they really aren’t dangerous.

Spiny Orb Weaver

was: Gasteracantha cancriformis but is now identified as: Gasteracantha elipsoides.

Photo taken at the Fruit & Spice Park in Homestead, FL.

She’s completely harmless – but so awesome looking!

These spiders are quite small – usually no bigger than a half an inch, but for their size they build enormous webs. They like to build webs around trees and shrubs. They also adds tufts of silk to their web, but the purpose of the practice isn’t really known. Some folks suggest that it has something to do with a visual warning so larger animals don’t destroy the web. Perhaps they are just gettin’ fancy since we know they lean toward a flashy presentation. Oh girl!

Their color can vary, but this color variety is quite common. Some have black points and a yellow back, but they are more rare. There are some awesome photos of this spider floating around online but mine is a bit far away. Too short to get closer…

This one is a lady. The females are a bit bigger (sexual dimorphism), whereas the guys tend to often have more muted tones and an elongated body.