Wolf spider  (Pardosa amentata)

Female wolf spider carrying young on back

Facts

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Arachnida
Order Araneae
Family Lycosidae
Genus Pardosa (1)
Size Female length: 5.5 - 8 mm (2)
Male length: 5 - 6.5 mm (2)

Status

Widespread and very common (1).

Description

All wolf spiders are agile, fast-moving ground predators. This species is brownish in colour, and males are typically darker than females, with more distinct markings (3). Like all spiders they have four pairs of legs. In front of the walking legs there is also a pair of leg-like palps, which are used in males for sperm storage (4); in spotted wolf spider males, these palps are black and covered in dark hairs (3). On the head there are eight eyes arranged in three rows; the first row comprises four small eyes, the second contains two larger eyes and the third row has two medium-sized eyes (4).

Range

Common and widespread in Britain (1).

You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network GatewayDisplay NBN Map Button

Habitat

This species is found in a wide range of habitats (3), and often in gardens (6).

Biology

This wolf spider does not make a web, but hunts its prey during the day by sight, chasing insects and leaping on them.

Males reach maturity from spring to mid-summer and can be seen performing courtship displays to females on sunny days, waving the legs in a specific 'routine'. The female lays her eggs soon after mating and carries them around in a silk cocoon attached to her body by the spinnerets at the end of the abdomen. After hatching, the spiderlings cling to the female's body for around a week before they disperse (5).

Threats

This spider is not currently threatened.

Conservation

Conservation action has not been targeted at this species.

Further Information

For more on British spiders see: the British Arachnological Society at:
http://www.britishspiders.org.uk

Authentication

Information authenticated by Dr Peter Merrett of the British Arachnological Society:
http://www.britishspiders.org.uk/index.html

Glossary

Abdomen: in arthropods (crustaceans, insects and arachnids) the abdomen is the hind region of the body, which is usually segmented to a degree (but usually not visibly in spiders). In crustacea (e.g. crabs) some of the limbs attach to the abdomen; in insects the limbs are attached to the thorax (the part of the body nearest to the head) and not the abdomen. In vertebrates the abdomen is the part of the body that contains the internal organs (except the heart and lungs).
Cocoon: a sheath of silk, which is spun around the pupae of some insects (a pupa is a stage in an insect's development, when huge changes occur that reorganise the larval form into the adult form. In butterflies the pupa is also called a chrysalis).
Palps: in invertebrates, palps are sensory appendages located near the mouth.
Spinnerets: tube-like, movable silk handling structures found at the tip of the abdomen (the hind region of the body) in spiders. There are four pairs of these organs, but in most species there are fewer (usually three). The silk is produced by the silk organs as a liquid, which passes through the spinnerets and is put under tension until the silk becomes a solid thread.

References

  1. National Biodiversity Network Species Dictionary (Jan 2003):
    http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nbn
  2. Roberts, M. J (1993) The spiders of Great Britain and Ireland, part 1- text. Harley Books, Colchester.
  3. Roberts, M. J. (1995) Collins field guide- spiders of Britain and Northern Europe. Harper Collins Publishers, London.
  4. Cloudsley-Thomson, J.L. & Sankey, J (1961) Land Invertebrates. Methuen & Co Ltd., London.
  5. Nichols, D., Cooke, J., Whiteley, D. (1971) The Oxford Book of Invertebrates. Oxford University press, Oxford.
  6. Peter Merrett (2003) Pers. comm.