Sunday, August 25, 2013

Who's Afraid of West Virginia Wolf Spider?


Other Arthropods With Attitude:


Cross-posted at Whiskey Fire. Mouse over pics for captions, and click them for larger versions.
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12 comments:

Alexia said...

Me.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Nice coup spotting that mantis!

Randal Graves said...

Boris?

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Not Boris, and not a wolf spider it turns out.

Hat tip to JohnR.

It is a Fishing Spider, Dolomedes tenebrosus:

Fishing spiders are similar to the larger wolf spiders in size, shape, and coloration. Species in the genus Dolomedes are called fishing spiders because most live near water and have been reported to catch small fishes and aquatic insects from the water as they walk on the surface.

The species Dolomedes tenebrosus is more frequently associated with wooded areas (it would be more accurately classified as a tree-dwelling spider) and is a common household invader in these locations. It occurs from New England and Can ada south to Florida and Texas.


(Better picture here...you can see it's almost an exact match.)
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21 Wits said...

Me too! Yikes! As for bugs with attitudes, look out too! :)

Max Sartin said...

Spiders are not my favorites, especially big ones. Fortunately, the most abundant spider in Utah is the Brown Recluse. Nasty bite, but as the name implies, you don't see them too often. Great picture though.

Jim H. said...

Great job with the lens!

I'm glad you caught that Fishing thing, I thought Wolf Spiders were larger than pictured.

Gilly said...

Whatever sort of spider it is - keep it away from me!

Great shots, how did you manage to get that mantis, you must have either incredible patience or incredible luck!!

Michèle et Jean-Claude said...

Great photos, especially the praying mantis! Praying the spider will come down so she can capture it?

Anonymous said...

Great examples! That spider is actually terrifying lol.

Bob Scotney said...

Three terrific shots, especially the mantis. I wouldn't like to find that spider in my bath!

Unknown said...

I live in WV and have been seeing these spiders all over my home, but just assumed it was a brown recluse. S o I just woke up in the middle of the night to go to kitchen to get a glass of water and there he was, so..................i made sure that this time i studied every feature so as to look him up and find out what kind just exactly it is. Also i have many plants and shrub bushes along my yard line and have been seeing so many webs all in them. I do not live near ,however, ponds or local water. The many of many web pages i have been visiting do say it is a wolf spider though.