# freakin wolf spiders in my house



## kosh (Sep 18, 2004)

i have been getting around 1-2 wolf spiders in my house every week and it is starting to get to me.....

this morning early....i get up to go to the restroom and when i turn on the light in the bathroom....i look down and about 6" from my big toe is a 2" wolf spider in threat posture...i had to do a double take because i have never seen a wolf spider (or whatever it was) in a posture like i am used to seeing my T's in....i had to be sure it was not an escaped T......
i am pretty sure it did not bite me.....and i am glad i found it before it bit one of the kids or something....

is it pretty common for a wolf spider to go into threat posture like that?? i have been around these spiders all my life in this area and this is the very first time i have ever seen this pose from one of these guys......

anyway since it was threatening me and it was a very dark colored spider with no obvious stripes (like a wolfie) i caught the sucker in a jar...i did not see any fiddle markings on it wither so i dont think it was a recluse.....it is probably just one of the darker color morphs of a wolfie...

i currently have Cook's pest control treating the outside of my home and want to call them to treat the inside but i am worried about my T's if they come in and treat specifically for spiders....i would think that if they are treating the outside of my home then there should be a barrier of poison the spiders wouldnt cross...apparently not....
any thoughts from anyone??


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## JJJoshua (Sep 18, 2004)

Maybe you should treat your house for the spiders food and not the spiders themselves. There are more spiders out there than you can control with pesticides. But if you setup ant trap and such, the spiders won't have any reason to come into your house.


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## kosh (Sep 18, 2004)

but the spiders are the only insects i ever see in my house except for the occasional mosquito tha gets in.....

my wife and i were looking at the spider and we dont think it is a wolf spider.....it is big like a wolf spider but it looks kinda different (dark and spiney) and seemed aggressive....it seems to play dead also...


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## JJJoshua (Sep 18, 2004)

Hmm, pictures would be need to identify. One of the reasons you may not see other pests is because your spider population is large thus eating alot of food. Anyways, why do you like T's and not the little spiders? I think they're interesting, if I see a little spider in my house I usually try to catch it and observe it feed and such then let it go. The wolf spider happens to be my favorite because it eats alot of insects that I find repulsive, and some can grow to very large sizes. I found one wolf spider that was larger than some of my T's, had about a 3" leg span. 

I've never heard of a wolf spider giving a threat pose either, sounded strange to me. Most spiders come into people's houses for shelter from rain/cold. And when they find that there is suitable prey there, they usually stay. I would say more investigation is needed.


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## Randomosity (Sep 18, 2004)

weird.....I've seen a couple of those here in GA too....thought they were also wolf spiders....they're quicker to get aggressive than my P. murinus or H. lividium


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## Malhavoc's (Sep 18, 2004)

kosh said:
			
		

> but the spiders are the only insects i ever see in my house except for the occasional mosquito tha gets in.....
> 
> my wife and i were looking at the spider and we dont think it is a wolf spider.....it is big like a wolf spider but it looks kinda different (dark and spiney) and seemed aggressive....it seems to play dead also...


HERES A GREAT HINT!
you don't want the 'opther pests' IE mosquito's flys moths ect. LEAVE THE SPIDERS ALONE! thats why their in your house. Also treating outside wont do shyte and if it does your t's are in trouble.


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## kosh (Sep 19, 2004)

dont know why the little spiders creep me out and the T's dont (as much)....im just weird that way.....

i dont mind the occasional house fly, moth, or mosquito that gets in the house..my cats and i can take care of those pests with no problems...now the spiders...i do not want in my house....unless they are in a critter keeper or other suitable container of my choosing and i put them there...

the bug man sprays around the perimeter of my house to supposedly keep unwanted insects from ever coming in the house....apparently it isnt working....i am hesitant to let him spray anything in the house because of my T's...since the bug man started treating the outside he has stopped me from seeing the cave/camel crickets and occasional palmetto bug that got in the house....notice i said he stopped me from seeing.....doesnt mean they arent still lurking somewhere and maybe that is what the spiders are munching...doesnt really make sense to have this many wolf spiders in the house when there are plenty of bugs outside....they have to be coming in here after something.....

i will try to get some pics of the spider...i have it in a jar saving it in case it bit me or someone and we dont know it yet...i was checking it out last night and it looks very similar to a wolf spider but no visible stripes on it like i am used to seeing...when i found it it was in threat pose just like a T and it stayed that way for a couple of minutes while i went to find a jar to catch it in...when trying to get it in the jar it was either striking the jar or being jumpy like wolf spiders sometimes are...probably jumpy..


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## edesign (Sep 19, 2004)

i would assume that if you or someone in the house had been bit you'd know it by now...the toxic spiders around the US (black widow and brown recluse) are much much smaller than that spider. The black widow you'd have noticed effects from the toxins by now...the brown recluse, nto gonna mistake it for a wolf spider as it's waaaay smaller.

and a wolf spider bite would most likely hurt...you'd know it, and would prob itch a good bit, but nothing to worry about maybe needing medical assistance for. I'd let it go...outside of course, on the courthouse lawn maybe?


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## Malhavoc's (Sep 19, 2004)

It may be working on keeping hte bugs out that are out but what about hte bugs that commenly live inside through their lives. many spiders never see outside. their born and grow inside a house munching on the annoying things that coem in when you open a window or a door.


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## kosh (Sep 20, 2004)

yeah, i agree that it is most definitely not a black widow or a brown recluse and probably just some other variation of the wolf spiders we have around here.....i guess the thing that freaked me out most was that it sat there in a threat pose just like a T and I have never seen one do that and i have been around the wolf spiders here all of my life....

i still plan on trying to get some pics....it looks to be similar in size and body makeup as a wolf spider just a different color..it is all dark color with no visible stripes....

my cats will usually take care of most insects that show themselves in the house but the kitties dont usually mess with spiders....i guess they instinctively know not to or they could get bit or something...

i have had this house for over a year and i have been renovating it...just moved in about 1 1/2 months ago and the spiders could have been there all along and i just didnt notice because i was not physically living there...
i have definitely noticed that the crickets and palmetto bugs seem to have disappeared though...could be the bug man doing his job or could be the spiders doing their job...i dont really know....


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## Malhavoc's (Sep 20, 2004)

Its msot likely a southern house spider. they are all black and are comparable to a black widow with no marking but have the velvit hairs of a wolf spider.. and will readily go into threat pose [I think their the reson black widows have a bad rap] their quiet harmless though but try and make you think their a syco killer widow.


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## Malhavoc's (Sep 20, 2004)

Southern house spider [Kukulcania (Filistata) hibernalis]
look it up I cant seem to find the pix or the thread I started on them here..


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## kosh (Sep 20, 2004)

Malhavoc...i think you got it!!......the spider i caught looks a heckuva lot like the first two pictures on this website ------> LINK 

although the pics and the spider i caught look more like a wolfie than a widow....and i guess that would explain the threat posture...i have never seen a wolf spider do a threat posture...
this is the first one of these i have seen in my house....i guess i can bet there are probably more...
can i assume that "house spider" is just a common name and does not imply that this spider would not make it if i release it in the back yard??


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## edesign (Sep 20, 2004)

it would prob be ok outside...the term "house spider" most likely stems from the fact that they are common in people's houses, i could be wrong though. Unless it's overly cold outside or something it should be fine...had to get to your house somehow lol


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## Malhavoc's (Sep 20, 2004)

Their very commen and can survive almsot anyware.. except captivity.. I've had next to no luck with them.. most of them jusut eventualy die and wont eat [I've tired recreating where I found em.. burrowing aboreal. damn dry you name it I tried it..]


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## orcrist (Sep 24, 2004)

kosh said:
			
		

> i still plan on trying to get some pics....it looks to be similar in size and body makeup as a wolf spider just a different color..it is all dark color with no visible stripes....
> 
> QUOTE]
> It sounds to me like a fishing spider, which resemble wolf spiders very closely but with some defiinite differences, like darker coloring, thicker legs, and the abdomen is smaller than the... front part.(why can't I remember the word?) Head over to pandinus's wolf spider topic. Spider D is a fishing spider, and if it looks like that, it's probably a fishing spider. Just a thought...


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## Malhavoc's (Sep 24, 2004)

kosh said:
			
		

> although the pics and the spider i caught look more like a wolfie than a widow....and i guess that would explain the threat posture...i have never seen a wolf spider do a threat posture...
> QUOTE]
> 
> Nevern oticed that part before Kosh sorry, and it will look liek a wolf spider when its crawling on the ground but as the pictures showed from its web comming out it can display black widow habbits such as a cob web, sitting upside down and shares many same areas as the blakc widow, the uneducated and most predators see a big black spider and go "deadly" because of the black widows veno.. many animals do this as a defensive mechinism


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## kosh (Sep 25, 2004)

i was keeping the spider in a jar and, the other morning before work, the spider had all 8 legs curled under....as in...dead.....
i went on to work and called the wifey and told her to dispose of the dead thing....she told me later that night she had let it go out in the back yard....
i asked her why she didnt throw the dead spider in the trash and she said it wasn't dead....i asked her if she was sure, and she said the thing was crawling all over the place.....
so, the little bugger tricked me in to letting her go!!!

im pretty sure it was not a fishing spider as the spider looked exactly like the pictures i posted links to previously...
it did not look like the fihshing spider in this post LINK


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