Wolf spider

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Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae, from the Ancient
Greek word "λύκος" meaning "wolf". They are robust and agile hunters with
excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude and hunt alone, and do not
spin webs. Some are opportunistic hunters pouncing upon prey as they find it
or even chasing it over short distances. Some wait for passing prey in or near
the mouth of a burrow.

Wolf spiders

Temporal
range: Cretaceous–
present
PreЄ

Pg

N
 Wolf Spider

Scientific
classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylum Chelicerata
:

Class: Arachnida

Order: Araneae

Infraorder: Araneomor
phae

Superfamil Lycosoidea
y:

Family: Lycosidae
Sundevall,
1833

Diversity

124 genera, 2888

species
Wolf spiders resemble nursery web spiders (family Pisauridae), but wolf
spiders carry their egg sacs by attaching them to their spinnerets, while the
Pisauridae carry their egg sacs with their cheliceraeand pedipalps. Two of the
wolf spider's eight eyes are large and prominent, which distinguishes them
from the nursery web spiders whose eyes are all of roughly equal size. This
can also help distinguish them from grass spiders.

Discription

The many genera of wolf spiders range in body size (legs not included) from less than
10 to 35 mm (0.4 to 1.38 in).[1][2] They have eight eyes arranged in three rows. The
bottom row consists of four small eyes, the middle row has two very large eyes (which
distinguishes them from the Pisauridae), and the top row has two medium-sized eyes.
Unlike most other arachnids, which are generally blind or have poor vision, wolf spiders
have excellent eyesight with their large eyes. The sensory hairs on their legs and bodies
give them an acute sense of touch.
Flashing a beam of light over the spider produces eyeshine. The light from the flashlight
has been reflected from the spider's eyes directly back toward its source, producing a
"glow" that is easily noticed. Wolf spiders possess the third-best eyesight of all spider
groups, bettered by jumping spiders of the family Salticidae (which can distinguish
colors) and the huntsman spiders.
Wolf spiders are unique in the way that they carry their eggs. The egg sac, a round,
silken globe, is attached to the spinnerets at the end of the abdomen, allowing the
spider to carry her unborn young with her. The abdomen must be held in a raised
position to keep the egg case from dragging on the ground. However, despite this
handicap, they are still capable of hunting. Another aspect unique to wolf spiders is their
method of care of young. Immediately after the spiderlings emerge from their protective
silken case, they clamber up their mother's legs and crowd onto the dorsal side of her
abdomen. The mother carries the spiderlings for several weeks before they are large
enough to disperse and fend for themselves. No other spiders are currently known to
carry their young on their backs for any period of time.
 Because they depend on camouflage for protection, they do not have the flashy
appearance of some other kinds of spiders. In general, their coloration is appropriate to
their favorite habitat.
Hogna is the genus with the largest of the wolf spiders. Among the Hogna species in
the U.S., the nearly solid dark brown H. carolinensis (Carolina wolf spider) is the
largest, with a body that can be more than 2.5 cm (1 in) long. It is sometimes confused
with H. helluo, which is somewhat smaller and different in coloration. The underside
of H. carolinensis is solid black, but the underside of H. helluo is variegated and has
reds, oranges, and yellows with shades of black.
Some members of the Lycosidae, such as H. carolinensis, make deep, tubular burrows
in which they lurk much of the time. Others, such as H. helluo, seek shelter under rocks
and other shelters as nature may provide. They may wander from place to place, so are
likely to be attracted into human habitation when the weather starts to turn colder in
autumn. As with spiders in general, males of almost any species can sometimes be
found inside homes and buildings as they wander in search for females during the
autumn.
Many smaller genera of wolf spiders are found in Britain and Ireland. They live in
pastures and fields and feed on smaller prey, playing an important role in natural
population control that keeps insect numbers in the wolf spiders' vicinity within
acceptable levels.

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Neoscona nautica
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Neoscona nautica, the brown sailor spider, is a species of orb weaver in
the family Araneidae. It is found in Asia and Pacific islands, has been
introduced into both Americas, and Sudan.[1][2][3][4]
Neoscona nautica
 Scientific
classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylum Chelicerata
:

Class: Arachnida

Order: Araneae

Infraorder: Araneomorp
hae

Family: Araneidae

Genus: Neoscona

Species: N. nautica

Binomial name

Neoscona nautica
(L. Koch, 1875)
 Nephila pilipes
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Nephila pilipes (northern golden orb weaver or giant golden orb
weaver)[2] is a species of golden orb-web spider. It can be found
in Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, I
ndonesia, Thailand, Laos, Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Papua New
Guinea, and Australia. It is commonly found in primary and secondary forests
and gardens. Females are large and grow to a body size of 30–50 mm
(overall size up to 20 cm), with males growing to 5–6 mm. It is one of the
largest of the orb-weaving spiders apart from the recently
discovered Nephila komaci, and one of the biggest spiders in the world.
[
citation needed]
Nephila pilipes

Dorsal side
Bantul, Indonesia
 Ventral side
Bali, Indonesia

Scientific
classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylum Chelicerata
:

Class: Arachnida

Order: Araneae

Infraorder: Araneomorp
hae

Family: Araneidae

Genus: Nephila

Species: N. pilipes
 The Nephila pilipes golden web is vertical with a fine irregular mesh and not
symmetrical, with the hub usually nearer the top.[2] Rather than egg sacs being hung in
the web, a pit is dug which is then covered with plant debris or soil.
The first, second, and fourth pairs of legs of juvenile females have dense hairy brushes,
but these brushes disappear as the spider matures.

Neoscona
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Neoscona, known as spotted orb-weavers and barn spiders,[7] is
a genus of orb-weaver spiders(Araneidae) first described by Eugène Simon in
1895 to separate these from other araneids in the now obsolete
genus Epeira.[8] They have a mostly pantropical distribution and one
species, Neoscona adianta, has a palearctic distribution.[2] As of
April 2019 there are eight species that can be found in the United States and
Canada:[7]
Neoscona

Neoscona adianta in
Belgium

Scientific
classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylum Chelicerata
 :

Class: Arachnida

Order: Araneae

Infraorder: Araneomorp
hae

Family: Araneidae

Genus: Neoscona
E. Simon,
1864[1]

Type species

N. arabesca
(Walckenaer, 1841)

Species

123, see text

Synonyms[2]

 Afraranea Archer,
1951[3]
 Chinestela Cham
berlin, 1924[4]
 Cubanella Franga
nillo, 1926[5][6]

The name was derived from the Greek νέω, meaning "spin", and σχοῐνος,
meaning "reed".[8]
These spiders can be difficult to distinguish from species of Araneus without close
examination of the carapace. Neoscona have a characteristic dorsal groove on
the carapace that are parallel with the long axis of the body. The dorsal grooves of Araneus are
transverse or angular, though they are sometimes so small that they appear as dimples on
the dorsalsurface.[7]
 Nephila antipodiana
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Nephila antipodiana, also known as the batik golden web spider,[2] is a
species of golden orb-web spiderdiscovered in 1841 by Charles Athanase
Walckenaer.[3] The species is found throughout Australia, China, Indonesia,
the Philippines, and Thailand. The spider's silk contains
a pyrrolidinealkaloid which serves as a chemical repellent to keep ants away
from the spider's web.[4]
Nephila antipodiana

Scientific
classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylu Chelicerata
m:

Class: Arachnida

Order: Araneae

Infraorder: Araneomorp
hae

Family: Araneidae

Genus: Nephila

Species: N. antipodi
ana

Binomial name

Nephila antipodiana
 (Walckenaer, 1841)[1]

Nephilengys malabarensis
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Nephilengys malabarensis is a araneid spider.[1]
Nephilengys
malabarensis

Scientific
classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylu Chelicerata
m:

Class: Arachnida

Order: Araneae

Infraorder: Araneomorp
hae

Family: Araneidae

Genus: Nephilengys

Species: N. malabar
ensis

Binomial name
 Nephilengys
malabarensis
(Walckenaer, 1842)[1]

Synonyms[1]

 Epeira
malabarensis Walckena
er, 1841
 Epeira
anama Walckenaer,
1841
 Epeira
malabarica Doleschall,
1857
 Epeira
rhodosternon Doleschall
, 1859
 Nephila
rivulata O. Pickard-
Cambridge, 1871
 Nephilengys
schmeltzii L. Koch, 1872
 Nephilengys
hofmanni L. Koch, 1872
 Nephila
urna Hasselt, 1882
 Nephila
malabarensis (Walckena
er, 1841)
 Metepeira
andamanensis Tikader,
1977
 Nephilengys
niahensis Deeleman-
Reinhold, 1989

Females reach a body length of about 15 millimetres (0.59 in). The legs and
palp are annulated yellow and black. Male body size less than 5 millimetres
(0.20 in), with mostly grey-black legs.[2]
N. malabarensis is being preyed upon by the spider-eating jumping
spider Portia.[2]