Wolf Spiders hunt on the ground. Female Wolf Spiders are immediately recognisable
in the field because they roam around with a spherical egg-sac attached
to their spinnerets. The egg-sac is made up of two halves united by a seam.
is easily recognised in the field by the two dark bands on the carapace
and ring-like markings on the legs. The sternum on the underside of
the spider is decorated with six dark spots.
Family Lycosidae, Wolf Spiders.|
Habitat: Edge of ponds and reservoirs.
Female: 10 mm.
Male: 7 mm.
Distribution: Singapore (new record),
Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Southeastern China.
Newly hatched spiderlings can sometimes be seen riding on the back of their
mother (right, Pardosa sp. female). The spiderlings apparently do
not feed while on the mother's back, surviving on the remains of their yolk.
If they fall off, they can still hang on to the mother by a silken life-line,
and can easily return to the mother's back via its legs or palps. The spiderlings
disperse only after undergoing a moulting.
arrangement of a
Wolf Spider, Pardosa sp.
Note the swollen palps (black)
of the male.
The eyes are in three rows comprising a front row of four small eyes,
and a median and back row of two larger eyes each. When a male meets
a female, it waves its palps and performs a series of push-up movements.
waving its black-and-white
palps during courtship
antics serve to establish the identity of the male, a signal to the
female that it is a suitor of the same species to be mated with, and
not food to be consumed!