Northern Wolf Spider
On August 2, 2012, we found this big wolf spider while we were folding laundry that had been out on the clothesline overnight[1].
For a size reference, in the photo above she’s in one of those sandwich-sized plastic storage containers with sides that are about 2 inches tall. Her body is half the height of the container, so about one inch. She’s big enough that her legs would hang over the edges of a quarter. We’ve got bigger spiders around, but she’ll do.
We kept her as a pet for a couple of weeks, feeding her flies and crickets[2], and she did what big spiders do: hang around until something came by that was edible, which she then pounced on and ate.
We can see by the eyes that she’s definitely a wolf spider, family Lycosidae.
It’s hard to identify spiders off of BugGuide, and there are so many kinds of wolf spiders that it was pretty hard sledding. So I went and got my copy of “Spiders of the North Woods”, and – immediately spotted the spider in question on the back cover! She’s evidently a Northern Wolf Spider, Alopecosa aculeata. Spiders in this genus tend to live in cold northern climates, all the way up to the high arctic, and this area seems to suit them.
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[1] People who are concerned about finding spiders in their laundry probably shouldn’t leave their clothes out on the clothesline any longer than is absolutely necessary. And should probably also locate their clothesline well away from trees or buildings that spiders could drop off of. Those of us who aren’t that bothered about spiders can afford to be a bit more cavalier about the whole business.
[2] She was one of the exhibits when we did another insect presentation at the public library on August 24.
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Our cats used to play with the wolf spiders that came up from the semi-finished basement. We’d often find five or six legged spiders in the living room. (Our house was not for the spider shy.) WRT to bugs on the laundry, I get fireflies now. I don’t like chasing them out of laundry, so if I’ve forgotten the clothes on the line until dusk they stay out until morning when the bugs have all gone to wherever they go during the day.
Your girl looks probably of the Hogna genus. Don’t forget Richard A. Bradley’s new book: Common Spiders of North America with wonderful plates by Steve Buchanan. Published by University of California Press and available on Amazon. No relation but we are friends.
Are the big eyes compound lenses?
No, the eyes are not compound.
KT: The ancestral arthropod is believed to have had both compound eyes with multiple elements, and “simple” eyes, with just one optical element. But, after the arachnid lineage split off from the other arthropods, their ancestor evidently didn’t need good vision, and lost the compound eyes. Then, any of its descendants that re-evolved decent vision only had the simple eyes to work with. However, the spiders that have big eyes, like wolf spiders and jumping spiders, have pushed these simple eyes to be pretty sophisticated, but they are still fundamentally different from compound eyes.