who’s afraid of wolf spiders

Spiders of the Western Waterfront

If you follow my Instagram you’ll see that I spend most of my spider-watching time on the western waterfront. There’s an abundance of diverse spider habitats all along the Martin Goodman Trail, but there are several parks that are worth dedicated visits. Here’s a tour…

Continue reading Spiders of the Western Waterfront

Pardosa update

So I went back to the meadow where I found all those wolf spiders in the hopes of finding a few Pardosa in various stages of motherhood. Enjoy!

Here’s a female wolf spider that, judging by her big round abdomen, is gravid (pregnant).

While I saw (but failed to capture) a couple spiders carrying around young, I did see some that still had egg sacs. I wonder how long it takes for them to hatch?

I had given up on catching and photographing a wolf spider with her young. I was taking a stroll by the pond before heading home when I spotted this tiny wolf spider scurrying along the pavement. It was only when I was taking the picture that I realized she was carrying a few spiderlings on her back! Usually they have more, smaller ones, but you get the picture.

Wolf spider photoshoot!

After finding a meadow chock-full of wolf spiders on the southeastern edge of High Park, I resolved to go back and catch a few so I could take more detailed photos. It took planning and a bit of trial and error, but I’m very pleased with the results and am going to try it again sometime! Continue reading Wolf spider photoshoot!