How to Identify Virginia Wolf Spiders

Virginia is home to several spiders, including the black widow, the barn spider, the brown recluse and the wolf spider. If you live in Virginia, you will want to be able to recognize these spiders so that you can tell a doctor if you ever get bitten by one. The wolf spider can be identified easily because it has several unique features. Finding these unique features on a spider is a dead giveaway that you have spotted a wolf spider.

Follow these steps to identify a wolf spider in Virginia:

Step 1:
Examine the spider's eyes. If you spot a pattern of eight eyes that are spread out with two medium-sized eyes in a row at the top, two large eyes in a row in the middle, and four small eyes in a row on the bottom, you are looking at a wolf spider.

Step 2:
Look at the coloring of the spider. Wolf spiders are brown or grey, and can sometimes have white striped markings on their backs. They are also hairy.

Step 3:
Check out the body of the spider in question. Wolf spiders are on the chunky side, and have legs that are thicker than those of most spiders. Their bodies will measure somewhere between 1/2 inch and 2 inches in length.

Step 4:
Notice the lack of a web. Wolf spiders are predators who hunt down their prey. They don't spin webs to catch prey. The lack of a spider web nearby can indicate you are observing a wolf spider.

Step 5:
Look at the clock. Wolf spiders often do their hunting during the day, unlike many other spiders, which hunt under the cover of darkness.

Step 6:
Look for an egg sack. Wolf spiders are unique in that they carry their eggs in a round white sac that is attached to their spinnerets. The spinneret is found at the end of the spider's abdomen. If the spider is carrying a sac like this, it is a wolf spider.

Tips:
According to Spider Room, wolf spiders eat earwigs, ants, small insects, grasshoppers and flies.

Warning:
If you get bitten by a wolf spider, you should have a doctor look it over.