Wolf spiders are patient hunters who are fed by “legs”

The wolf spider is a representative of arachnids from the araneomorphic family. He does not weave a web, and his hemolymph, which replaces blood, acquires a blue hue under certain conditions. Settling in gardens and kitchen gardens, these carnivorous arthropods greatly help the owners of personal plots - they destroy a huge number of harmful insects that can cause serious damage to the crop.

Characteristic

As can be seen in the photo, the wolf spider has a primitive structure of the body - it is divided into the cephalothorax and abdomen. Covers, as a rule, are dark and painted black, brown or dark gray. Light individuals are extremely rare. Due to their color, wolf spiders can perfectly disguise themselves - they almost completely merge with the environment.
Representatives of this family have sexual dimorphism: females are much larger than males, while the latter have darker integuments, and a pair of forelimbs is much better developed. The front legs are used by males to attract the attention of females during mating.

As for vision, wolf spiders are relatively good. They have 4 pairs of eyes arranged in 3 rows: on the bottom row are two pairs of small eyes, in the middle are a pair of the largest, in the upper are two side eyes that are slightly above the middle pair.

It is interesting! Thanks to good vision and a well-developed sense of smell, wolf spiders are able to detect a potential victim from a rather impressive distance - about 30 cm. But it is believed that these creatures are not able to distinguish between shapes!

The relationship between the organs of the body of the spider-wolf provides a transparent hemolymph, which plays the role of blood. It has one feature - if only the spider goes out into the open air, the hemolymph turns blue.

Kinds

The family of wolf spiders is quite large - it includes more than 2 thousand species, which are combined in 116 genera. At the same time, representatives of each species hunt in their own way. Some may be active during the daytime, looking for a potential victim for several hours. Others prefer to get food at dusk. There are also passive wolf spiders that will peacefully await the approach of the victim right in their hole.

The most famous types of wolf spiders include:

1. Apulian tarantulas are rather large arthropods, whose body size can be about 7 cm. Representatives of this species prefer to settle on the slopes of the mountains, where they dig their holes and frame the entrance to them with a roller of fallen leaves. For a long time they were considered very poisonous, and in order to save their life after a bite it was necessary to start a quick dance.
   

   On a note! This is how the Italian folk dance - tarantella was born!

2. The second most famous wolf spider is also a tarantula - This is a South Russian tarantula. Representatives of this species are recognized as the largest spiders that live in Russia. The body length of adult males is approximately 2.5 cm, females - 3 cm. South Russian tarantulas are painted in dark brown, brown-red or black.They live in holes, from which they try not to depart far even during hunting.

Lifestyle

Wolf spiders prefer a solitary lifestyle and interact with each other only during the mating season. They dig holes for themselves and entangle their walls with their own cobwebs. And for hunting, they do not need a fishing net - they overtake prey by jumping or simply catch up.

The diet of these representatives of the spider kingdom includes:

• flies;
• beetles;
• small spiders;
• nails
• insect larvae.

Reproduction and development

Wolf spiders that live in temperate regions mate in the summer, and those that belong to tropical species year-round. The male, having noticed the female, begins to give enticing signals - he rises to his hind legs and, shaking his forepaws, slowly approaches her. If the “boyfriend” is to the female's liking, she turns her abdomen towards him and folds the front pair of legs, along which the male climbs onto her back.

After mating, the female wolf spider is removed to a quiet place where it begins to weave a silk cocoon for future offspring. She places eggs in it, on top lays a few more layers of cobwebs and, after the cocoon takes on a spherical shape, fastens it to the edge of her abdomen. The female carries masonry on herself for 2-3 weeks.

After the specified time, tiny spiders begin to emerge from the eggs. At this time, the female with her mouth organ breaks the cocoon, helping the offspring to get out. Toddlers climb on their mother, and she carries them on her body until they learn how to independently get their own food.

Female and offspring: entertaining facts

1. Females of some species can carry a huge number of spiders, sometimes they cover the whole body, only eyes remain free.
2. In order for the development in the egg to proceed faster, heat is needed. Therefore, the female tries to spend as much time as possible under the sun. As a result, her body loses a large amount of moisture, which often leads to a loss of 30% of the weight.
3. If a female suddenly loses a cocoon with eggs, she will experience extreme stress. She can wander for hours in search of missing offspring. There were situations when the females, instead of the missing cocoon, clung an ordinary piece of cotton wool to their abdomen. But the most incredible case occurred with the spider species Pardosa riparia - having lost its clutch, she hatched a cocoon belonging to a larger species of spiders. It turned out that the alien cocoon was four times larger than herself.

Are these spiders dangerous?

Wolf spiders are slightly poisonous arachnids and are not aggressive at the same time. They attack only when they feel threatened. Their bite may be accompanied by symptoms such as:

• itching
• redness;
• short pain.

Important! But the consequences can be more serious and arise after bites of tropical species. Symptoms will be as follows: prolonged intense pain, swelling in the affected area, nausea, dizziness, headaches. In this situation, a visit to the doctor is required!

However, in cases where the wolf spider encounters a serious adversary, he prefers not to attack, but to pretend to be dead. He very quickly takes the pose of the defeated, turning over the bottom side of the abdomen up, and freezes. Despite the fact that for arthropods this position of the body is far from the most convenient, the wolf spider can stay in it for quite some time. And as soon as the threat is over, he immediately “comes to life”, quickly turns onto his paws and immediately leaves the danger zone.