Rabid wolf spiders communicate in many different ways. One way is through the release of pheromones. Both males and females lay out a dragline and deposit a chemical attractor on the line. Male wolf spiders intersect these lines and use their palps to follow the line for mating. Another type of communication is web vibrations. This type of communication, known as the substratum-coupled vibration system, is used mainly by males to attract females, but is also used for males to communicate with one another. Essentially, a male "plucks" the web fibers to play a "song".
Communication Channels: tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: pheromones ; vibrations
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; vibrations ; chemical
Rabid wolf spiders are not currently endangered or at any prevelant risk of becoming threatened.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: no special status
Female R. rabida drag their egg mass around, having spun a silken cocoon around the egg mass and attached it to spinnerets. The cocoon darkens from shiny white to dirty brown before the eggs hatch.
Spiderlings ride on their mother's back until they are ready for dispersal. Egg sacs are from 7 to 10 mm in diameter and contain from 168 to 365 eggs.
Rabidosa rabida has little adverse affect on humans outside of being pests. These spiders are not poisonous but have been know to bite unsuspecting victims.
Negative Impacts: household pest
Although it is of little direct benefit to humans, R. rabida is very common among semi-urban and rural areas and is very active in its predation of insects. This can be a big benefit where pests are a problem.
Positive Impacts: controls pest population
Rabidosa rabida has a limited role in th ecosystem. Its main job as a predator is to control the booming insect population. However, as an occasional prey species, it may contribute to feeding other organisms also.
Rabid wolf spiders usually prefer to eat small insects and other invertebrates. They have been known to eat crickets, locusts, ants, grasshoppers and even other spiders. R. rabida is very strong and is not usually intimidated by larger organisms. These spiders are "sit-and-wait" predators. In order to more easily detect visual and vibratory cues from prey, R. rabida must remain motionless. These spiders do not eat solid material, so once they overtake the insect, they usually suck out liquids and nutrients of their prey.
Animal Foods: insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods
Primary Diet: carnivore (Insectivore )
Rabidosa rabida is very common and widely distributed. It is often recorded as a wandering spider. It is typically found in east to central Texas and Oklahoma, northward to Nebraska. It has frequently been traced as far east as Maine and as far south as Florida.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )
Rabidosa rabida ismost often found in wooded areas, cotton fields, and buildings. These spiders usually reside among litter, rubbish, in holes, under rocks, and on low foliage in these areas. Some individuals have been found around ponds or in deep burrows with a turret of debris.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; agricultural
Most rabid wolf spiders live up to around two years, six months of which is sometimes spent on the mother's back. The larger, more fit R. rabida can live beyond two years in stable environments.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 2 (high) years.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 2 (high) years.
A typical rabid wolf spider has a dark gray cephalothorax with two light longitudinal stripes extending across the top and a narrow light line on each lateral margin of the thorax. The abdomen has a dark median band, notched on each side in front of the middle of the abdomen, with several pairs of light spots on the rear part of the abdomen. The first pair of legs is often black or dark brown, and the other legs are brown. Females average 16 to 21 mm long, Males are typically much smaller than females, measuring an average of 13 mm in length.
Average length: males, 13 mm; females 21 mm.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: female larger
While Rabidosa rabida is nomadic and moves frequently, it does so in a manner that is inconspicious to larger predators. By staying low in the brush, under litter or ground cover, the spider can move efficiently and most often remains undetected. Wolf spiders get their name from they way they stalk their prey slowly and from a distance, which has been associated with wolves and other wild dogs.
Known Predators:
Female R. rabida release a dragline. Males stumble across the line, which leads them to the female. Once courting is over, the male spins a ball of silk and then releases sperm onto the ball. The female attaches the ball and drags it along with her until she is fertilized.
Reproduction in R. rabida is one of the most commonly debated and studied areas of the animal's behavior. Rabid wolf spiders efficiently detect movements. When males and females are in courtship mode, they use a series of displays to interact and breed. R. rabida perform a series inter-bout turns in which one spider turns in a given direction based upon the direction in which the other spider turned previously. Pheromones also play a role in these intricate courting rituals. Scientists have shown that the intensity of the pheromone is directly related to the turning in males, specifically the degree and time of turning.
Female R. rabida drag their egg mass around, having spun a silken cocoon around the egg mass and attached it to spinnerets. The cocoon darkens from shiny white to dirty brown before the eggs hatch.
Spiderlings ride on their mother's back until they are ready for dispersal. Egg sacs are from 7 to 10 mm in diameter and contain from 168 to 365 eggs.
Breeding season: Breeding occurs from late summer to early fall.
Range number of offspring: 168 to 365.
Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous ; delayed fertilization
The spiderlings hatch and remain on the mother's back until they are ready for dispersal.
Parental Investment: precocial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging; pre-independence (Protecting: Female)
Rabidosa rabida, also known as the rabid wolf spider,[2] is a species of spiders from the family Lycosidae, native to North America.[1] In the United States it is found from Maine to Florida and west to Texas.[3]
The cephalothorax has two dark stripes. The abdomen has one stripe of the same color. Other parts of the spider are yellow.[4] The females are larger than males, and have a body length of about an inch, while the males' body length comes as a half of that. The species has eight eyes: four above, and four below, which look more like a spider's moustache.[5]
B. J. Kaston distinguishes R. rabida from R. punctulata by observing that the males of the former have front legs that are mostly black, whereas the latter have all legs of the same color.[6]
The common namesake "rabid wolf spider" is thought to derive from the erratic, rapid movement of this species. However spiders cannot have rabies and therefore, cannot transmit it to humans or other animals.[7][8]
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The species likes cotton fields and wooded areas. They usually live in holes and garbage of various kinds. Sometimes they might be found around ponds or in deep burrows that are covered by debris.[9] This species doesn't build webs to catch prey, instead they weave the silk to wrap their prey in, or to protect their young. They hunt at night, by ambushing their prey, or chasing it. Sometimes, in order to catch their prey, they camouflage themselves as bark or leaves. During breeding, the male performs a "dance" in front of the female, and makes a noise with its legs. If mating is successful, the female will begin to lay its eggs[2] and build an eggsack out of silk, which she will use to carry her young in.[10] When the spiderlings are born, they ride on the mother's back until they are old enough to be on their own.
Rabid wolf spiders may bite if provoked, but their bite is not dangerous to humans.[2]
The rabid wolf spider is native to North America.[1] In the United States, it is found in the east from Maine down to Florida, and west to Texas.[3]
Female Rabidosa rabida, also known as the rabid wolf spider, is a species of spiders from the family Lycosidae, native to North America. In the United States it is found from Maine to Florida and west to Texas.
