How to Identify a Carolina Wolf Spider

The Carolina Wolf Spider is the common name for Hogna carolinensis. A wolf spider is any spider in the lycosidae family, which has 104 genera and 2,304 species. The Carolina Wolf Spider is the largest wolf spider in North America. The following steps will help you identify this spider.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Note that a Carolina Wolf Spider's color ranges from gray to brown. The abdomen may have a darker stripe along the midline and the females are slightly paler than the males. Females have a sparse covering of gray hair.
2. Measure the legspan. The Carolina Wolf is very similar to other wolf spiders except for the size. The body length for females can exceed 1 inch with a leg span of 4 inches. The males have a maximum body length of ¾ inch. This species has a pair of larger forward-facing eyes and a pair of oversized fangs.
3. Feed your Carolina Wolf Spider more often than other spiders. It is a voracious predator that hunts almost exclusively at night. It generally does not ambush but actively chases down its prey and crushes it with its powerful fangs.
4. Watch for a burrowing Carolina Wolf Spider. She usually does this only to lay her egg sac in and will guard it until the spiderlings hatch.
5. Look for the Carolina Wolf Spider in the wild throughout the northern United States and southern Canada. They live on the open ground in fields.

Tips & Warnings

• All spiders have some venom, but this species is not considered dangerous. However, its bite has caused necrosis lesions in sensitive individuals.