San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
There’s nothing big or bad about the wolf spider.
Sara Schwesinger may be a speech pathologist, but the very thought of spiders leaves her at a loss for words.
“They do, like, cause me, especially if they surprise me, they’ll cause me to throw up,” the Leon Springs resident said between breaths. “Just talking about them to you makes my skin crawl.”
At least she feels a little better about the big bad wolf spider, which actually is an itsy-bitsy arachnid often found in and around San Antonio, according to bug expert and Schwesinger’s close friend Molly Keck.
“They live outside, but they can get their way inside, especially when it’s really hot,” said Keck, an entomologist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. “When you’re home, when you’re doing more stuff in your yard, yes, you probably are going to come across them.”
Chances are you’re seeing a lot more of the wolf spider while you spend more time at home. Here’s a closer look at that misunderstood arachnid for this week’s S.A.’s Common Critters.
What it looks like. A wolf spider has stripelike markings and is about the size of a half-dollar coin with its legs out. Wolf spiders spend a lot of time on the ground, hence their brownish-gray color and alternating leg patterns that serve as a sort of arachno-camouflage.
They’re almost everywhere. Wolf spiders are found in most places in the world and in various habitats, including coastal and inland areas, woodlands and residential yards. There are at least 2,300 types of wolf spider, with more than 200 species in North America. Most live for only around a year.
A real lone wolf. The wolf spider is from the Lycosidae family of spiders. Lycos is the Greek word for “wolf.” The hairy arachnid got its name for its hunting style.
Wolf spiders hunt at night, and can chase and pounce on their prey, though they also burrow in the ground and wait to strike. But unlike wolves, wolf spiders hunt alone instead of in packs. Wolf spiders also don’t spin webs.
It’s not a brown recluse.
Keck noted wolf spiders often are mistaken for a brown recluse, but a brown recluse is smaller than a wolf spider and has different markings. A brown recluse has a violinshaped mark on its back and is around the size of a quarter with its legs extended.
A wolf spider bite won’t kill you. Wolf spiders may be venomous, but their bites are not lethal and usually only hurt for a few minutes. In 1990, doctors deemed it unnecessary to treat wolf spider bites with antivenom. Like most spiders, a wolf spider will only bite if cornered or threatened.
“They’re more afraid of you than you should be afraid of them,” Keck said. “They really only attack what they think they’re going to eat.”
You can treat a wolf spider bite with warm soap and water, and a bandage, though consult a doctor if you’re allergic to spider bites.
Schwesinger’s misery has plenty of company. Arachnophobia is one of the most common fears on the planet. There’s even a 1990 horror comedy film called “Arachnophobia” starring Jeff Daniels as an arachnophobe doctor in a small town infested with deadly spiders.
The sight of spiders gives Schwesinger the chills and makes her feel lightheaded, common arachnophobia symptoms. Treatment usually involves facing those fears through exposure therapy, which can minimize anxieties over time.
Thanks to her old high school pal and college roommate Keck, along with her own research, Schwesinger has learned to keep her fears somewhat in check whenever she sees a wolf spider.
“I can calm myself down by stating the facts that I know he’s beneficial but not harmful,” Schwesinger said. “But I really have to (repeat a) mantra, ‘He’s good. He’s good.’ ”
Wolf spiders thin the insect herd. Like most arachnids, wolf spiders are nature’s pest control. They eat just about any ground-dwelling insect their size or smaller, including ants, crickets and grasshoppers. If you spot a wolf spider inside your house, Keck said chances are you have an insect problem, not a spider problem.
The eight eyes have it. While most spiders are blind or have poor eyesight, wolf spiders have excellent vision. That comes in handy for those nighttime prowls. The wolf spider’s eyes are in three rows.
A wolf spider’s eyes also reflect when you shine a flashlight on them, especially the two larger eyes on the middle row of its head. Enjoy those nightmares.
Bizarre leg action. A wolf spider can reach speeds of up to 2 feet per second over short distances and can even walk on water.
Oh, and a wolf spider will lose a leg if cornered by a predator, according to National Geographic. The twitching limb provides a distraction for their escape. Yay, more nightmares.
Wolf spiders give their kids a piggyback ride. Here’s a more soothing image, sort of. A mama wolf spider carries her unborn in an egg sac attached to spinnerets at the end of her abdomen. When those eggs hatch, the wolf spider carries all those scurrying little ones on her back.
You can hear wolf spiders a-courtin’. Male wolf spiders make “purring” vibrations, usually on surrounding dried leaves, to attract females. If the female is near enough she’ll detect the vibrations, which sound like purring to the human ear.
The wolf spider is the only state spider. The Carolina wolf spider is the state spider of South Carolina, the only state in the nation to have a state spider. The Carolina wolf spider also is the largest wolf spider in North America at 3 to 4 inches with its legs extended.