LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Spiders: Wolf Spiders
built 649 days ago
Wolf Spiders (family Lycosidae): Female wolf spiders are large, hairy, running spiders, often confused with tarantulas. They may be brown, black, gray, white, yellow, orange or green. Many have a stripe or pattern the length of the first, and sometimes the second, body segment. They are nocturnal and usually occur outdoors but may wander indoors, especially into cellars and basements in late summer and fall when cooler temperatures prevail. These hunting spiders, which do not construct webs, carry the large, globular egg sac attached to spinnerets under the abdomen. Upon hatching, the spiderlings climb onto their mother's back and ride there for several days before dispersing.
Source:
Spiders usually have eight eyes in various arrangements, a fact which is used to aid in taxonomically classifying different species. Most species of the Haplogynae have six eyes, although some have eight (Plectreuridae), four (eg., Tetrablemma) or even two (most Caponiidae) eyes. Sometimes one pair of eyes is better developed than the rest, or even, in some cave species, there are no eyes at all. Several families of hunting spiders, such as jumping spiders and wolf spiders, have fair to excellent vision. The main pair of eyes in jumping spiders even see in color.
Source:
Venom in spiders has two functions: prey capture and defense. In its most common use, spiders bite their prey and inject venom, which immobilizes the prey and starts the process of digestion. Spiders have no teeth and rely on the venom to liquefy their prey in order that their stomachs, known as sucking stomachs, can draw in the meal. Some of the larger spiders, such as tarantulas and wolf spiders, have projections on the inside of their chelicerae that help break the prey into smaller pieces to aid digestion. These hunting spiders typically leave a small pellet of crushed exoskeleton after eating, whereas the smaller web-building spiders leave an empty shell of the former prey, neatly cocooned in silk.
Source:
The above mind-blowing picture is of one of the most abundant spiders in the US, a Wolf Spider of the genus Lycosa. Its body (excluding legs) is about 0.6 of an inch long. The drawing at the right helps you identify features on the Wolf Spider's face. The eight red circles are eyes, the pink ovals are the jaws (known technically as chelicerae) and at the very bottom of the two jaws you can barely make out two sharp, horizontal items, and these are the fangs. The spider at the left is the same one shown above. Here you can see that the spider's rear end, her abdomen, is attached to a white egg sac. Since Wolf Spiders have no webs, the mothers carry their egg sacs with them as shown.
Source:
Male spiders, which reach maturity at an earlier age than females, must search for a mate. With the exception of tarantulas, spiders typically mate one time during their lives. The average spider lives for approximately one year, but some of the larger wolf spiders live about two years; and tarantulas may live up to twenty years. The male web-building spider sometimes guards the web of an immature female from other males, mating with her immediately after the molt in which she becomes an adult. Males of other species must go through an elaborate courtship of song and dance before the females will accept them. Once the female has mated, she can store sperm for several months up to a year.
Source:
Wolf spiders (figure 2) are common spiders outdoors and are occasionally seen indoors. They are moderate to large-sized spiders (1/4 - 3/4 inch long). Wolf spiders are found on the ground or under stones in a wide variety of habitats, such as forest floors, grassy meadows, swamps, and bogs. Some even like to live underground. They commonly hunt during the day or at night when it is warm. Wolf spiders are dark-colored, usually brownish or grayish, with white markings.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Wolf Spiders