Once a burrow is abandoned, in just a few days it collapses without a trace. Yet I know that the burrows are occupied because I have dug out hundreds of them over the years and always get its owner. Carrel comments, “I can easily find every burrow in an area, but I am lucky if I see a single spider. These spiders dig perfectly round, open burrows in the sand that are about the size of a ballpoint pen and they spend almost their entire lives hidden below ground. Carrel has been studying rare burrowing wolf spiders known as Archbold Burrowing Wolf Spiders (Geolycosa xera archboldi) that are found only in healthy native Florida scrub on the Lake Wales Ridge. Such cannibalism is widespread in some families of arachnids.”įor the past three decades Dr. The prey often is a beetle, but it can also be a smaller spider of the same kind. Eventually a small animal approaches within inches, then the ‘wolfie’ springs an attack: it grabs the prey with its two front legs and bites with its stout jaws in order to inject lethal venom. Carrel describes their hunting technique, “They sit on the dirt or grass and wait motionless for many minutes or hours. They do this in order to catch flying insects that swarm above the ground after dark.”ĭown on the ground, wolf spiders of various kinds and sizes come out of their protective burrows to forage. Specific types of funnel-web spiders are found in southeast Australia, around Sydney. They remain on their webs all night, often even if it is raining. During the day they are impossible to see unless one opens up the silk capsule the spider has woven beneath the leaves. Carrel explains, “Many spiders emerge at dusk from shady retreats in leafy shrubs and tall weeds to build and repair webs of various sizes and designs. Carrel finds a headlamp is best since it allows him to keep his hands free and it fully illuminates his visual field. The best time for spider hunting is at night. Often, the edge of an eave is used as upper support, with the bottom frame lines attached to a shrub or the ground. Archbold’s Burrowing Wolf Spider leg span size of a dime. If there was a poster child for spiders, it would probably be the orb weaver, which builds the familiar circular-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests.
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