Needing Advice On Finding Carolina Wolf Spiders

[LadyShia77]

I'm back with yet another post lol. Does anyone have any advice on how to find a Carolina wolf spider? I know people have said to shine a light and look for shining eyes, but that doesn't really help me. I have been finding Pardosas, Tigrosa Annexas, and Rabidas in my yard so far, but no Carolinas. I have started at dusk and continued until well after dark. I don't know if they're just not in my yard or if I'm going about it wrong. I've tried getting ideas by looking them up online, but can't find much. I live out in the country a bit in Western, NC. Are there any areas in particular about where they're more likely to hang out or a certain time of evening where they are more likely to be found? I've really been hoping to find a female and the ones I've found online are a bit beyond what my bf is okay with me spending. Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks again.

 

[Tentacle Toast]

So... we've got friends outside Goldsboro, & when we were there last year (literally last frickin' June, when it's like 110°F & 610%RH), they took us to "Neuse Cliffs" state park, where the combination of heat stroke & the Innocence of my Northeastern exuberance (with some extra "sweet" in my tea but it's okay I wasn't driving) found me flipping rocks to see what there was to see. WELL, upturned the one I did, & out pops this VERY angry spider the size of a small dog with a teardrop tattoo in the corner of one of its eyes & holding a switchblade said to me "you done f__ked up, ese" & went to move on me but THANK GOD, just at that moment, a platoon of red ants from the innocuous looking mound I had just gotten rid of the previous cup's worth of sweet tea upon had emerged & said to the spider "this one's ours, homes" & a brawl commenced a la the scene in "A Clockwork Orange" & I took my sweet as tea's snow-white behind's leave, before either one of them had their way with me.

LoL, that didn't really happen, but for the fact that I flipped a rock in that particular State Park, & am pretty sure the spider in bothered was of the "Wolf" persuasion, as it very much resembled the wolf spiders I have up my way...but bigger, & lacking anything close to southern hospitality. It really was a beautiful park, & well worth a visit even without finding any of those spiders. "Cliffs of the Neuse State park," not Neuse Cliffs..

 

[LadyShia77]

Sadly, I'm at the other end of the state and there aren't any decent sized rock clusters in my yard for anything to hide around. Interesting story, btw.

 

[Tentacle Toast]

Not going to lie, that spider scared me. Any bodies of water anywhere around, though? Surely there's a piece of wood laying around...

Also to be clear, I can't say for sure that that's what it was, but I'm relatively confident that it was some kind of wolf spider. I'm not really sure what all you've got down that way.

 

[LadyShia77]

Not going to lie, that spider scared me. Any bodies of water anywhere around, though? Surely there's a piece of wood laying around...

Also to be clear, I can't say for sure that that's what it was, but I'm relatively confident that it was some kind of wolf spider. I'm not really sure what all you've got down that way.

No, no bodies of water and nothing bigger than a few twigs. Since you were near water, you may have found a fishing spider. They can get pretty big and often look similar to wolf spiders.

 

[Tentacle Toast]

No, no bodies of water and nothing bigger than a few twigs. Since you were near water, you may have found a fishing spider. They can get pretty big and often look similar to wolf spiders.

Yeah, I'm not sure. All i.know is that it was large & angry, LoL. Good luck with your search, friend.

 

[LadyShia77]

Yeah, I'm not sure. All i.know is that it was large & angry, LoL. Good luck with your search, friend.

Thank you

 

[Biollantefan54]

Im near Charlotte NC and I’ve shined lights looking for wolf spiders eyes for years, here, Alabama, and Georgia. Never seen a Carolina wolf spider. In my yard I find the same as you with the occasional Schizocosa avida and Allocosa mixed in

 

[LadyShia77]

Im near Charlotte NC and I’ve shined lights looking for wolf spiders eyes for years, here, Alabama, and Georgia. Never seen a Carolina wolf spider. In my yard I find the same as you with the occasional Schizocosa avida and Allocosa mixed in

That's saddening considering North Carolina and Georgia are both marked on their range map.

 

[Biollantefan54]

That's saddening considering North Carolina and Georgia are both marked on their range map.

Yeah, I agree lol. I may not be looking in the right habitat but I have definitely tried to find them on many occasions!

 

[LadyShia77]

Yeah, I agree lol. I may not be looking in the right habitat but I have definitely tried to find them on many occasions!

On a site with a regional map, it had something about North Carolina in July. Maybe that's when they're more active and more likely to be found.

 

[jc55]

There are supposedly about 30 species of wolf spiders in North Carolina from what i read so they must hide well but said that the months of June and July are when they are more likely to be spotted at night when they hunt.