25 April 2015

Wolf Spider in Riyadh – Record by Mansur Al Fahad

Mansur Al Fahd a local birdwatcher who is very knowledgeable on all living things sent me a couple of his photographs of a Wolf Spider he found in his parking area a few weeks ago. Mansur has kindly allowed me to use the photographs on my website. He mentioned the spider was big at around ten centimeters in length, but exactly what type of Wolf Spider it is, is uncertain. Wolf spiders don’t spin webs and they were probably given their name because they stalk and hunt their prey, just like wolves do and have a Latin name Lycosidae which is Greek for ‘wolf’. Wolf Spiders are hairy, brown to gray in color with various markings or lines and are venomous but not typically aggressive. They are widespread in the Northern Hemisphere and hunt for their food on the ground as they do not build webs to catch their prey. They eat a wide variety of insects, including crickets, beetles, meal worms and cockroaches. Like other spiders, the Wolf spider has eight eyes but unlike many other spiders it has keen eyesight, relying on its vision and not on vibration to capture their prey. Their eyes comprise three rows; the first row has four small eyes; the second row has two larger eyes and the third row has two medium-sized eyes.
Wolf spider

Wolf spider

Wolf spider