When Lisa unlocked her door to help her husband inside she was greeted with the lovely lady below. How do I, an office monkey with meager biological training, know it's a wolf spider? Because I've been posting on uglies for nearly four years now.

I can tell by the fact that she's carrying her egg sac (that silken orb) by her spinnerets, which behavior is unique to wolf spiders. In just a short while the spiderlings inside will burst forth and commit another behavior unique to wolf spiders: the bearing of the young on the mother's back.






















There are many varieties of wolf spiders, and they're found pretty much everywhere. If you're reading this blog, you're almost guaranteed to have one lurking nearby. That being said, not all wolf spiders are equal. Some are large, some are small. Some are avid hunters, some simply lie in wait.

I am aware on at least a weekly basis of the fact that I live in a part of the world (the Sacramento Valley) that doesn't boast of any local spider species that get any larger than a quarter. That fact is one of my chief blessings in life. Some of you might be able to disprove that fact, in case I'm wrong. And if I am wrong, I am very, very happy in my ignorance and misinformation. I don't need to know otherwise.

Thanks for the photo, Lisa. You'll have a whole little wolf spider pack lurking about your house next year.