Wolf Spider

Michaela Cassella

Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae, in the spider order Araneae, in the class Arachnida.

There are about 125 species that are found in the United States and about 50 species that are found in Europe. A full grown wolf spider is a half an inch to two inches. They are usually brown or gray with various stripe-like markings on their

backs, they are also usually very hairy. They have 4 small eyes in the bottom row, 2 large eyes in the middle row, and 2 medium eyes on the top row. They have short

legs.

Classification

Nutrition (Digestive System)Wolf Spiders eat a variety of things like, Crickets, other spiders, ants,

grasshoppers, flies, mosquitoes, beetles, lizards and frogs.

Once a wolf spider captures its prey, it injects venom into its prey by using its fang-like mouthparts. This is when the digestion process is start and in doing this

the digestion process is started. Wolf spiders sometimes hunt for nutrition by feeding off of insect carcasses. This is not as common but is known to be one way

for the wolf spider to get nutrients.

Spiders have a narrow stomach that can only cope with liquid food, they have two sets of filters to keep solids out. They use one of two different systems of external digestion. Some spiders pump digestive enzymes from the stomach into the prey and then suck the liquefied tissues of the prey into the stomach, this eventually

leaves behind the empty husk of the prey. Other spiders grind there prey to pulp.

Transport (Circulatory System)A hemocoel is a cavity that is throughout the length of the body, this is where the blood

flows. The heart is a tube in the upper body, there are non returning valves that allow the blood to enter the heart from the hemocoel but it prevents it from leaving before it reaches

the front end. Blood is released from the hemocoel by one artery. Wolf spiders have open circulatory systems. The blood of many spiders contains respiratory pigment, and

hemocyanin to make oxygen and transport it.

Excretion (Urinary System)Wolf spiders have a one way digestive system and a separate mouth, anus and

coelom. Waste is released from the anus. Spiders use there Malipighiam tubules for excretion, these organs are like the human kidneys. The tubules create an acid

solution that helps make the wastes pass out of the body.

LocomotionLocomotion in spiders involves muscular flexion and hydraulic extension. Normal walking for a spider requires prosomal pressures. High-pressure circulatory system is used for a

spider's locomotion. Spiders have seven leg segments, and their movements are controlled by muscles and by pressure changes in the body's circulatory fluid. Spiders use muscles to retract their legs, but they lack extensor muscles. Spiders extend their legs by body-fluid

pressure. When spiders do not receive enough water to refresh their body fluids, their legs fold up and they are unable to extend them.

Regulation (Nervous System)The central nervous system of a spider is in the cephalothorax. This includes the brain which is connected to the gandlion, which is a large group of nerve cells. Nerve fibers

run through the whole body, these fibers control the activities of the body.

ReproductionThe male spider has to track down a female spider. The males perform a

courtship ritual prior to mating, which involves complex leg and palp signaling to the female. The female Wolf spider has an egg sac of white papery silk. When the spiderlings hatch, they are carried around on the

females back until they are ready to leave their mother.

EvolutionSpiders evolved from crab-like chelicerate ancestors. There are spider species within the

diverse phylum of arthropods.

Their shell around their body called an exoskeleton protects them from birds and other animals from attacking them. They also adapt by eating other animals. Some build burrows

that are either opened or have a trap door.

There are over 37,500 different species of spiders. They are one of the most diverse groups.

EcologyWolf spiders live in a variety of different places . This includes, wet costal forests,

suburban gardens, and woodlands. They live in both the coastal and inland. They are mostly found in the United States, Canada, Africa and England. Wolf Spiders do not make webs, they make tube like barriers and live under rocks. They also will construct turrets

and cover the holes with leaves or pebbles to protect against flooding when it rains.

Works Citedhttp://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/arachnids/spiders/wolf_spider/

http://www.badspiderbites.com/wolf-spider/

http://www.types-of-spiders.org.uk/wolf-spiders.htm

http://www.ehow.com/way_5621781_wolf-spiders-diet.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider

http://www.badspiderbites.com/wolf-spider/

http://www.termite.com/spider-identification.html

http://www.ento.okstate.edu/ddd/insects/wolfspider.htm