Wolf Spider Babies??

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Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 21, 2010
Messages
8
I've had a female wolf spider for about a month and a half. It's been by itself, but now it has an egg sac! Could it just be a dud or does it take that long for her to make eggs? I'm really new to spiders, so I have no idea what to do about it if it's not a dud (spider abortion time? :( ). Any info about wolf spiders and how long it takes for anything baby related would be great!
 

loxoscelesfear

Arachnoprince
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let her keep her egg sac. (if fertile) once hatched the babies will ride on her back for a few weeks. removing the egg sac stresses the spider out.
 

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Arachnopeon
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Dec 21, 2010
Messages
8
Is there any way to know if it's fertile? I really don't want a billion babies running around, and I would have no idea what to do with them. She's been by herself since before Halloween, would they be fertile after that long or is she just making an egg sac for kicks?
 

loxoscelesfear

Arachnoprince
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it can be fertile. they can produce several fertile eggs once they have mated. it could be a blank sac too. if you get babies out of the deal just collect them up as they disperse and put in separate container. if any get out of her tank they wont last long due to dessication. they dry up quickly. egg sacs hatch in a month or so. once babies are present feed her well she will be hungry and thirsty. keep us posted. any pics of the spider? what species do you have?
 

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Arachnopeon
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Dec 21, 2010
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8
Ok, thanks! I don't know what species she is, just that she's pretty big and from mid Missouri. My boyfriend found her and now she's got a 5 gallon aquarium to live in. We were super excited when we saw her digging and making a web in one of the corners between her log and the glass because we thought it meant she was finally settling in. Imagine our surprise when we came back from a weekend trip and we couldn't see her at all, then when she did come out she was carrying an egg sac! When you say she will be really hungry, does that mean she won't eat while she's carrying them?

Sorry for the awful pics, I don't have a real camera. These are from when we first caught her and were trying to figure out what she was. She's in the bottom of a 32 oz soda cup.
 

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davisfam

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 19, 2010
Messages
287
We'll post a longer description on what to do tomorrow but for now, just leave her and the egg sac alone.

Your set-up sounds just fine for a Mama Wolfiie and when he said, "She will be hungry" it's probably because Wolfiies carry their young on their backs for a certain amount of time before the slings "pop off" to go about in the world all alone. All of our Mama Wolfiies most def. still ate while carrying the egg sac.

You'll be fine with everything, no worries! ;)
 

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Arachnopeon
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Dec 21, 2010
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8
Yeah, sorry, like I said I have no real camera :( I'll see how my phone does tomorrow.

She looks a lot more like the first 2 than the last one. She's mostly dark brown with a single lighter brown stripe down the middle and the same light brown around the top of her body. Her butt is solid dark brown and her legs are kinda... brindled? Not really striped but not solid. And she doesn't have the spiky hairs like this Carolina.
 

Vespula

Arachnodemon
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Jul 27, 2010
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706
I have a wolf spider who layed an infertile sac. I'd had her about as long as you have had yours before she layed it. Hopefully you'll get some babies! :D
 

davisfam

Arachnoknight
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Jul 19, 2010
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287
First of all, the specimen in catfishrod69's thread is NOT a H. carolinensis. The specimen looks very much like our 2 unidentified Wolfiies; we'll hopefully have an ID for them soon but until then.. the search continues, LOL! :? The reason we don't think the specimen is a H. carolinensis is due to it's lacking orange chelicera and black around the the "knees" ventrally as these are two characteristics of the H. carolinensis species. Also, this species usually has completely dark ventral aspect of the front 4 legs.

Second, as far as burrowing, burrowing Wolfiies create a vertical silk-lined burrow, usually with a turret at the entrance. The spider uses this burrow as a protected retreat, emerging when in the mood for a meal. After all of our WC Wolfiies begin to feel "at home", they won't hang out in their burrows as much and will often be out just roaming around their 'homes'.

Third, Mama Wolfiies not only carry their egg sac with them until the eggs hatch, but after hatching the mother spider carries her young for about a month before the spiderlings move off on their own in the world. If you don't want the egg sac then I would just let your Mama Wolfiie and her egg sac go free because Mama Wolfiies are extremely attached to their slings; some Wolfiies such as some of the Paradosa species, let their slings eat her alive for a first meal, talk about some real love, LOL! :p


Here is a document with information on the H. carolinensis;

http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v6_n1/JoA_v6_p53.pdf


Other Information:

"Hogna carolinensis females are 22 to 35 millimeters in length, and the males are 18 to 20 millimeters. The carapace is a dark brown with scattered gray hairs that are typically not arranged in any discernible pattern. The abdomen is similarly colored, with a somewhat darker dorsal stripe. The legs are a solid color."
"Hogna aspersa females are 18 to 25 millimeters in length, and the males are 16 to 18 millimeters. They are similar to H. carolinensis in body color but have a distinct narrow line of yellow hairs on the carapace in the vicinity of the eyes. The legs are banded with a lighter brown color at the joints. The males are much lighter in color than the females, and only their third and fourth pairs of legs are banded with a lighter color."

(Source: http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/wolf-spiders)


Resources/Links:

http://cumuseum.colorado.edu/Research/Objects/oct07_wolfspider.html

http://bugguide.net/node/view/27062

Take a browse at all of these Wolfiies and I'm sure you'll be able to pick out one that looks closest to your new Wolfiie:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/1967/bgpage
 

catfishrod69

Arachnoemperor
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Oct 1, 2010
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4,401
hmmmm....well you think they might be hogna aspersa then? awful hard to find anything about stuff you find around home, but get one from china, and bam, you got page after page.....im gonna try and get a some more pics, and good underneath pics, after the slings are big enough to be sorted out....thats if it hatches....

First of all, the specimen in catfishrod69's thread is NOT a H. carolinensis. The specimen looks very much like our 2 unidentified Wolfiies; we'll hopefully have an ID for them soon but until then.. the search continues, LOL! :? The reason we don't think the specimen is a H. carolinensis is due to it's lacking orange chelicera and black around the the "knees" ventrally as these are two characteristics of the H. carolinensis species. Also, this species usually has completely dark ventral aspect of the front 4 legs.

Second, as far as burrowing, burrowing Wolfiies create a vertical silk-lined burrow, usually with a turret at the entrance. The spider uses this burrow as a protected retreat, emerging when in the mood for a meal. After all of our WC Wolfiies begin to feel "at home", they won't hang out in their burrows as much and will often be out just roaming around their 'homes'.

Third, Mama Wolfiies not only carry their egg sac with them until the eggs hatch, but after hatching the mother spider carries her young for about a month before the spiderlings move off on their own in the world. If you don't want the egg sac then I would just let your Mama Wolfiie and her egg sac go free because Mama Wolfiies are extremely attached to their slings; some Wolfiies such as some of the Paradosa species, let their slings eat her alive for a first meal, talk about some real love, LOL! :p


Here is a document with information on the H. carolinensis;

http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v6_n1/JoA_v6_p53.pdf


Other Information:

"Hogna carolinensis females are 22 to 35 millimeters in length, and the males are 18 to 20 millimeters. The carapace is a dark brown with scattered gray hairs that are typically not arranged in any discernible pattern. The abdomen is similarly colored, with a somewhat darker dorsal stripe. The legs are a solid color."
"Hogna aspersa females are 18 to 25 millimeters in length, and the males are 16 to 18 millimeters. They are similar to H. carolinensis in body color but have a distinct narrow line of yellow hairs on the carapace in the vicinity of the eyes. The legs are banded with a lighter brown color at the joints. The males are much lighter in color than the females, and only their third and fourth pairs of legs are banded with a lighter color."

(Source: http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/wolf-spiders)


Resources/Links:

http://cumuseum.colorado.edu/Research/Objects/oct07_wolfspider.html

http://bugguide.net/node/view/27062

Take a browse at all of these Wolfiies and I'm sure you'll be able to pick out one that looks closest to your new Wolfiie:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/1967/bgpage


---------- Post added at 03:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:43 PM ----------

well we may never know what they are for sure....but hopefully we do...

Yeah! That's pretty much my spider if she were less blurry :p
 

davisfam

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 19, 2010
Messages
287
hmmmm....well you think they might be hogna aspersa then? awful hard to find anything about stuff you find around home, but get one from china, and bam, you got page after page.....im gonna try and get a some more pics, and good underneath pics, after the slings are big enough to be sorted out....thats if it hatches....
Honestly, if you do end up having the same species as our unidentified Wolfiies (and from the photo, there is quite the resemblance between them), then we have NO idea on what to tell you, sorry. We have done hours and hours of research trying to identify our two unidentified Wolfiies along with help from friends but have come up with nothing. :wall: We have a few people who have offered to take a look at it but we're still waiting to hear back from them with their conclusions soo, we have just been playing the 'waiting game' thus far. We'll let you know if we come across any new information that may prove helpful in finding an ID for our Wolfiies! ;)

- If you haven't looked already, we have a thread in this forum with pictures of the two unidentified Wolfiies we are referring to in this post. It might be more helpful in comparing spidiies and there are also pictures of our specimen's dorsal (underneath) side.

Quick question; Why can't you snap a photo of the Mama's underside instead of waiting for her slings to hatch and then grow to be of larger size?!
 

revilo

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 2, 2010
Messages
173
hi davisfam,

are there some specialist/taxonomist people take a look on your spiders ?

merry christmas, oli
 

catfishrod69

Arachnoemperor
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Oct 1, 2010
Messages
4,401
yea i understand completely....but its just hard to believe that they are unidentified...with all the people on this site, and all the knowledge from everyone....yea i would like to get a shot at her underside, but see she has webbed herself inside of a big leaf, and all i can really do is take and rip open the front webbing and look at her inside to see whats happening, she doesnt come out at all...i dont wanna stress her by removing her and the egg sac completely, then putting them back....thanks for your help also

Honestly, if you do end up having the same species as our unidentified Wolfiies (and from the photo, there is quite the resemblance between them), then we have NO idea on what to tell you, sorry. We have done hours and hours of research trying to identify our two unidentified Wolfiies along with help from friends but have come up with nothing. :wall: We have a few people who have offered to take a look at it but we're still waiting to hear back from them with their conclusions soo, we have just been playing the 'waiting game' thus far. We'll let you know if we come across any new information that may prove helpful in finding an ID for our Wolfiies! ;)

- If you haven't looked already, we have a thread in this forum with pictures of the two unidentified Wolfiies we are referring to in this post. It might be more helpful in comparing spidiies and there are also pictures of our specimen's dorsal (underneath) side.

Quick question; Why can't you snap a photo of the Mama's underside instead of waiting for her slings to hatch and then grow to be of larger size?!


---------- Post added at 04:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:28 PM ----------

also i have this wolfie i caught too...it is about 1 1/2 or so...his underside is black....i dont know if it is the same species and just looks diff because of age or sex.....hes also really cool....


http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d29/catfishrod69/DSCF3445.jpg







Honestly, if you do end up having the same species as our unidentified Wolfiies (and from the photo, there is quite the resemblance between them), then we have NO idea on what to tell you, sorry. We have done hours and hours of research trying to identify our two unidentified Wolfiies along with help from friends but have come up with nothing. :wall: We have a few people who have offered to take a look at it but we're still waiting to hear back from them with their conclusions soo, we have just been playing the 'waiting game' thus far. We'll let you know if we come across any new information that may prove helpful in finding an ID for our Wolfiies! ;)

- If you haven't looked already, we have a thread in this forum with pictures of the two unidentified Wolfiies we are referring to in this post. It might be more helpful in comparing spidiies and there are also pictures of our specimen's dorsal (underneath) side.

Quick question; Why can't you snap a photo of the Mama's underside instead of waiting for her slings to hatch and then grow to be of larger size?!
 

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Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 21, 2010
Messages
8
Sorry for no replies, I've been away visiting family (yay holidays!) Thanks for all the help, we are just going to let her be and see if the egg sac hatches or not. If it does we're going to figure out a way to let them go once they start climbing off of her. That might not even be a problem now though. We accidentally turned off the breaker for our heater and it's been freezing for a few days in my room. Steve is moving, but slowly. Hopefully we didn't kill her :(
 

Silberrücken

Arachnoangel
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Messages
875
catfish, 2nd Wolf looks a lot like a Schizocosa sp

---------- Post added at 09:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:04 PM ----------

davisfam, your PM's are full, I'm trying to reach you :wall:
 

catfishrod69

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Oct 1, 2010
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yeah it does...thanks man...

catfish, 2nd Wolf looks a lot like a Schizocosa sp

---------- Post added at 09:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:04 PM ----------

davisfam, your PM's are full, I'm trying to reach you :wall:
 
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