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"New pet" update

By tsmith on June 23, 2006.

In many ways, I'm like my kids: it doesn't take much to amuse me. I mentioned previously my kids' enjoyment of catching all things crawly, and our "pet" wolf spider, "Wolfie." Well, Wolfie is now a mommy to hundreds of spiderlings. I'll put the pics below the fold so that those of you with an aversion to spiders won't be subjected to them.

She's now dropped the egg sac and is just carrying around the babies. We plan to put her into a box or somewhere where I can get a few better photos, and then send her and her family back out into the garage from whence she came. In the meantime, since the extensive maternal care by female wolf spiders is (as far as I'm aware) unique, I'm reading Charlotte's Web with the kiddos so they can learn about how other mother spiders deal (or, don't deal) with their young.

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Misc.
Science Education

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I'm glad you didn't kill the spider. Wolf spiders are harmless and keep insects down. The only time I kill spiders is if they are fiddlebacks (brown recluse) or I can't tell what kind it is because I'm in a dim and dark garage or shed.

Are those baby spiders on her abdomen in those pictures?

Hopefully Lycoses (do you call them that way also in USA?) don't go through matriphagy, like some other spider species do... Or how would you explain this to your kids?

Are those baby spiders on her abdomen in those pictures?

Yep.

Hopefully Lycoses (do you call them that way also in USA?) don't go through matriphagy, like some other spider species do... Or how would you explain this to your kids?

Never heard the term "lycoses" before, but I'm admittedly not a bug person. As far as matriphagy, I don't think that's practiced by wolf spiders (at least, as far as I can tell). Mommy carries them around for a few weeks, and then they disperse. But again, I'm definitely no expert on this.