by Kevin Strauss

We usually assume that as winter approaches, all of our northwoods insects and spiders either lay eggs and die, or they go into a winter-long hibernation. But nature doesn't always fulfill our assumptions. Some insects and spiders are active under and on top of the snow in December. My favorite “winter bug” is the wolf spider (Lycosa species). These 1/2-2 inch brown and black spiders scurry across the snow on sunny December afternoons looking for prey. Yes, I said looking. While most spiders are almost blind and they sit in their webs and wait for food to come to them, wolf spiders are the entrepreneurial spiders, going out to get what they want.

During most of the year, wolf spiders hunt at night, but they switch to a diurnal (day-active) schedule in colder weather. With their good eyesight (rare for spiders) and impressive speed, wolf spiders hunt winter insects under the snow throughout the winter and emerge from the snow in warm weather.

Just as it is easier to see birds in winter now that the deciduous trees are bare, it is easier to seen spiders in winter because their dark bodies show up easily on the white snow.

“Wolf” spiders don't hunt in packs the way that wolves do, but they do chase down their prey and pounce on it. Since most spiders hunt by making a web and letter their food come to them, the wolf spiders habit of chasing down prey probably reminded entomologists of mammal hunters, thus giving this group of spiders their common name. These spiders are also very hairy.

While wolf spiders are entertaining to watch, they are best appreciated from a distance. Unlike most spiders who can't bite through human skin, a wolf spider can deliver an irritating bite. Lucky for us, wolf spider venom doesn't seem to be dangerous to humans; it's just annoying.

While wolf spiders don't spin webs to catch food, like all spiders, they can spin webbing. The females of some species of wolf spiders use webbing to attach a egg sac to their abdomens. Wolf spiders will also sometimes spin a “safety line” before they pounce on prey. That way, if they end up missing their prey and falling off a rock or branch, they can just climb back up their their safety line and look for additional prey.

Like the literary Charlotte of “ Charlotte 's Web,” many species of spider lay their eggs in the fall and live only one year. But wolf spiders can live several years, so a wolf spider you see in your yard this winter, may still be around next winter. So get out and meet your spider neighbors.

The Ely Timberjay