Minnesota Seasons - wolf spiders (Family Lycosidae)

Overview • Description • Distribution • Taxonomy

Overview

Photo by Babette Kis

Wolf spiders (Family Lycosidae) have a worldwide distribution, occurring on every continent except Antarctica. They are found in almost all habitats, including forests floors, prairies and meadows, marshes, and buildings. They have excellent vision and are solitary hunters. They do not spin a web but some species construct a silken tube to hide in. Most live on the ground and hunt at night.

There are about 2,888 species in 124 currently recognized genera of wolf spiders worldwide, about 240 species in 21 genera North America north of Mexico, and at least 37 species in Minnesota.


	Description
	Wolf spider (Family Lycosidae) is a medium-sized to large spider. It is brown with light and dark stripes or spots that camouflages it in leaf litter. It is covered with short hairs. Like other spiders it has eight eyes in two rows. In the second row the lateral eyes are large, the middle eyes are very large.


	Distribution
			Sources 24, 29, 30, 82.
	5/26/2022

	Occurrence
	Common


	Taxonomy
	Class	Arachnida (arachnids)
	Order	Araneae (spiders)
	Suborder	Araneomorphae (typical spiders)
	Infraorder	Entelegynae (entelegyne spiders)
	Superfamily	Lycosoidea (wolf spiders and allies)

	Subordinate Taxa
	Alopecosa spp. Arctosa spp. (bear spiders) Geolycosa spp. (burrowing wolf spiders) Gladicosa spp. (sword wolf spiders) Hogna spp. Pardosa spp. (thin-legged wolf spiders) Pirata spp. (pirate wolf spiders) Piratula spp. Rabidosa spp. Schizocosa spp. (brush-leggeed spiders) Tigrosa spp. Trochosa spp.

	Synonyms


	Common Names
	wolf spiders


	Visitor Photos

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	Clara Wolfe

	Found in a raised garden bed with newly placed woodchips



	Heidi P.




	Alfredo Colon




	Babette Kis

	Lycosidae spp. wolf spiders Lycosidae sp., wolf spider, about 10mm long, found on Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI. Photos were taken on May 22, 2021.




	Luciearl





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	Other Videos


	Closer to the nature 6: Wolf spiders (Lycosidae) WildInside

	About Dec 3, 2017 Wolf spiders are quite common world-wide. They are good runners and they hunt actively, so they are well prepared for that kind of hunting. The female of wolf spider is also a good mother, which creates egg sack and carries it with her all the time. The young spiders are safe inside of it, but when they leave the egg sack, they are still protected by their mother. Contact: wildinsideyt@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildInside-235784083542985/ Music: QUEEN OF THE SKIES by Nicolai Heidlas Music https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Music provided by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1StjgRTfJg4 Morning Sun by Nicolai Heidlas Music https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/UzCFTyluxic



	Wolf Spider (Lycosidae) Female with Young Carl Barrentine

	About Jun 12, 2010 This was one of seven females, each one with either eggs or young, that I observed (within a one meter area!) on the wet plywood deck of a small artifical pond. Photographed at Turtle River State Park, North Dakota (11 June 2010).

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Visitor Sightings

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Clara Wolfe 5/19/2023	Location: Southern Anoka County Found in a raised garden bed with newly placed woodchips



Heidi P. 12/17/2022	Location: Crow Wing County



Alfredo Colon 8/2/2022	Location: Albany, NY



Alfredo Colon 6/8/2021	Location: Woodbury, MN



Babette Kis 5/22/2021	Location: Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI Lycosidae sp., wolf spider, about 10mm long, found on Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., WI. Photos were taken on May 22, 2021.



Luciearl 3/28/2020	Location: Cass County



MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings