Need help with difference between wolfspiders and grass spiders

[Bassy]

other then the fact one has a web and the other doesnt, ive been wanting a wolf spider so i go hunting around where i live, only issue, i have no clue if the spiders i have are wolfies or grassys...besides the eyes is there any other way of telling the difference? ive been looking under wood, rocks, and old furnature outside where there are grass spiders (i figure if they are there ill find a wolf..) all i seem to find are black and brown widows and baby (wolfs or grass cant tell)...i live in cali, in the sac/elk grove area so besides the bay area any other places i can look?

 

[Ciphor]

Hello Bassy

In your area you have no funnel-web wolf spiders so ID'ing the two is simple. If it has a funnel web, it's a grass spider or other spider in the family Agelenidae, if it has no web, it may be a wolf spider. There are many other differences, such as yes, eye arrangement which for wolf spiders is the most telling feature. They are the only spider that has eyes on the back of its head! Grass spiders (Agelenopsis spp.) have characteristic loooong spinnerets.

Wolf spiders come in all sizes, small and big. The little spiders you see running around "baby wolf spiders" are very likely mature specimens of the thin-legged wolf spider genera Pardosa.

 

[Bassy]

oh i see, i got lucky and got a swarm of jumping spider slings all over my arms when i was looking for them, guess ill have to look elsewhere