#tigrosa annexa

[onenicebugperday]

Would it be possible to list some of the general differences between wolf and grass spiders? Thank you!

Sure! Grass spiders are funnel weavers, so you will often find them in funnel-like webs, usually with a big flat sheet of web around it. I see them often on bushes or in corners of siding and windows on houses. And of course over grass. Here's a pic of what you'd commonly see:

Agelenopsis sp. photo by kaden_slone04

Wolf spiders on the other hand are active hunters, so you'd more often see them just running around freely or maybe in a burrow in the ground. They're a common sight in gardens, sometimes females carrying a little white egg sac from her abdomen.

Grass spiders and wolf spiders can look sort of similar, but they're easy to distinguish from one another with a few key features: the eyes and the spinnerets.

Of course there are a bunch of different species with lots of different markings so this is a generalization, but I'll choose two of the more common wolf spiders in the US, the rabid wolf, Rabidosa rabida, and Tigrosa annexa, which as far as I know has no common name. For grass spiders it can be difficult to determine exact species from photos so I'll just use the Agelenopsis genus.

The easiest way to ID wolves is with their eyes! They have 8, with 4 on the bottom row, two great big forward facing eyes in the middle, and then two on top of their head:

Rabidosa rabida photo by tshahan

And from above:

Tigrosa annexa photo by wildcarrot

The eyes are almost always very obvious and easy to spot.

Grass spiders have two eyes on the bottom row, four in the middle, and two on top. The two center eyes in the middle row are not as exaggerated as the two large wolf eyes. Some views of their eyes:

Agelenopsis sp. photos by jasonjdking and tmurray74

Grass spiders also have long, visible spinnerets sticking off the end of the abdomen:

Agelenopsis sp. photo by littlelegofan

Wolves do have spinnerets, but they're not as long and pointy:

R. rabida by schoenitz and T. annexa by wendybirdsbyrv

Hopefully that's helpful!

#bugs #andtheirlovewasrenewed #arachnids #spider #grass spider #agelenidae #agelenopsis #funnel weaver #wolf spider #tigrosa annexa #rabid wolf spider #the more you know

[poll-position]

#poll #polls #animals #plants #insects #spiders #science #gaming

[phishouttawatta]

This little (I believe) Tigrosa annexa was a perfect little model while I was nerding out hard core. You can see their little tapetum lucidums shining!! . . . #wolfspiders #wolfspidersofinstagram #tapetumlucidum #spiders #spooder #twinkling #nocturnalwildlife #nativewildlife #arachnid #headlamp #liveepiphanies #thingsineverknew #backyardwonders #tigrosaannexa https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch3tFc-gdfW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#wolfspiders #wolfspidersofinstagram #tapetumlucidum #spiders #spooder #twinkling #nocturnalwildlife #nativewildlife #arachnid #headlamp #liveepiphanies #thingsineverknew #backyardwonders #tigrosaannexa

[nunoxaviermoreira]

Arachtober 13…. A Wolf eat Wolf world. My yard has many Wolf Spiders and I luckily was in the right place at the right time last night. Tigrosa georgicola eating Tigrosa annexa. by Dougeee https://flic.kr/p/2mA9QuJ

#IFTTT #Flickr

[onenicebugperday]

@goose-on-the-loose submitted: Little guy I found in my school’s cafeteria! (im from mississippi for the location) I’d like to know what they are :)

A friend! And a pal. And also Tigrosa annexa, I think.

#animals #spider #arachnids #submission #wolf spider #tigrosa #tigrosa annexa

[onenicebugperday]

@tangelotime submitted: Hey! I have a little rescue story to share! I work in an archive and we use glue traps to make sure we can keep track of all the bugs that come in and out of the collection spaces and there was this giant spider! I think it's a wolf spider? (For ID this was [removed], please redact) Anyway, she(?) was still alive when I found her! I got a coffee stirrer and managed to get her off the trap and as clear of the glue as possible, then put her under a leaf in the shaded part of the garden and left a wet napkin for her to drink from. By the time I checked on her again she was gone :) hopefully she is doing well out there.

I'm so glad she was saved! Death by glue trap isn't very fun, but I understand having to protect your collection from destructive bugs. And yes she is a wolf spider, possibly Tigrosa annexa

#animals #bugs #spider #arachnids #submission #wolf spider #Tigrosa annexa

[onenicebugperday]

@firekitten830​ submitted: I have three lovely spider friends for ID! The first guy is from South Carolina, the other two are from VA. The second little fella was a tad bit lighter and perhaps a little more orange than he shows up in the picture, my phone has an annoying habit of making things darker in pictures

The first fellow is a twin-flagged jumper, but the second I have zero chance of IDing without a closer photo. The last friend is a male wolf spider, Tigrosa annexa :)

#bugs #submission #arachnids #animals #spider #jumping spider #twin flagged jumping spider #wolf spider #Tigrosa annexa

[onenicebugperday]

@dreamlandsystem​ submitted: Hi! Do you know what this little spider is? Spotted in Knoxville, TN!

A beautiful wolf spider! Looks like Tigrosa annexa :)

#animals #spider #arachnids #submission #bugs #wolf spider #Tigrosa annexa

[onenicebugperday]

Have you ever done a post about distinguishing brown recluses from wolf spiders? That's kinda my last major barrier of spider fear bc I have definitely killed wolf spiders on accident confusing them for actually dangerous ones. :'(

It's actually super easy to distinguish the two when you know what to look for!

I'll focus on your location that you shared via IM in terms of wolf species you may encounter, but the following info is true of all wolves within the brown recluse (Loxosceles reclusa) range anyway.

Before I get into that, though, for anyone who may want to know how to ID a brown recluse, make sure you're even in their range. Their range is relatively small:

(map source)

If you're outside of this range, it's very VERY unlikely that any spider you encounter is a brown recluse. There are some other Loxosceles species found in the southwest US and into California, though, and they look similar. As far as I understand, there isn't really enough data on the effects of their venom to say whether or not their bites are medically significant like the brown recluse’s may be, but if anyone's seen any research on that, feel free to tell me how wrong I am.

Anyway, here are a male (top) and female brown recluse:

Photos by eattaway92 and wildcarrot

And for size reference:

Photo by catenatus

So! Some things to note. First, there aren’t really any markings on their body except for the famous dark violin shape on the cephalothorax and sometimes a slightly darkened stripe on the front of the abdomen which is super visible in this photo:

Photo by ryandove

Second, the legs are long and spindly and don’t look hairy unless you’re very close up. The way they hold their legs is often almost crab-spider-like. Third, the eyes! This is, I think, the most obvious way to distinguish them from wolves. Brown recluses have only six eyes, grouped in pairs, so it looks like three black dots if you’re viewing it from a distance. Here’s a close-up:

Photo by salticidude

Wolves will not have the violin shape. Almost all species of wolf you’d encounter will also have other markings on their body, especially dark stripes on the cephalothorax. Some may have an abdominal stripe similar to the recluse, but it’s usually much less subtle.

Here are two of the most common wolves in the southern US, Rabidosa rabida and Tigrosa annexa:

Photos by sambiology and cavemander17

You can see the body and legs are far more robust, more densely haired, and the markings are pretty wildly different than the recluse which is fairly plain. There’s no wolf spider I know of that looks even remotely like a recluse as far as markings go.

The big thing though!! Are the eyes. Wolves have eight eyes, but two are comically large cartoon eyes that face forward. Even on the very tiny ones, you can still see their big eyes. Prepare yourself it’s very cute

Photos by annikaml and feistyone

If I’m ever not weeping about wolf eyes, just assume I am dead. Anyway, beyond all that, size in particular is not a very good indicator when trying to differentiate, because wolves have a huge range from the size of your fingernail to practically the size of a tarantula. Let’s admire this one just for fun

Precious :) Carolina wolf photo by afroherpkeeper

Recluses are a lot more consistently sized as adults, about the size of a quarter.

I would also like to add that while recluse venom can potentially be harmful, most bites do not require medical attention and heal just fine on their own, especially for healthy adults. Serious reactions happen in something like less than 1% of bites.

Also, they’re called recluses for a reason. They’re nocturnal, non-aggressive, and tend to avoid people. Most bites happen because they got caught in bedding or clothing and accidentally pressed against someone’s skin, so they bit as a defensive reaction so they could escape the big scary predator about to smoosh them. If you capture them in a cup (wear gloves if you’re afraid!) and put them outside away from your house, it’s very unlikely you’ll see them again. No need to kill them!

Wolves, of course, are capable of biting, but their bites are not medically significant.

Hope this was helpful!

#the more you know #technicolorama #spider #arachnids #bugs #brown recluse #wolf spider #rabid wolf spider #Tigrosa annexa #carolina wolf spider #bug death #bug fear #long post

[onenicebugperday]

@ashedink submitted: I have a number of nice bugs that I've wanted to submit, but I kept holding off so here is a whole bunch of fine friends from east Tennessee:

A very fine wooly worm I found just a few days ago! I'm not used to them being solid black, mostly we see black and orange banded ones. This well dressed child was so big! Nearly three inches in length!

A small centipede and a big old ant mound with my hands for scale, I see maybe 6-7 of these giant mounds on my daily walk, like 90% certain they're fire ant colonies. I love to marvel at their architecture and their security response time when I give their nest a little brush. Also my hand is not touching the mound in this picture, ant swarms are no joke when they're that big!

This is one of my favorites, she lives in my art room and actively hunts, running across the floor! Including legspan she is about the size of a gold dollar, and I have always assumed she is a wolf spider, until I realized just how many wolf spider look alikes there are! This is the one I want ID'd the most if the picture is clear enough.

A delightfully chubby oak worm. For about a month I was finding them in the road constantly (and gently tossing them off to the side of the road), I assume migrating from their initial host plant to wherever they planned on pupating.

And these were the first pictures I knew I wanted to submit. I have ALWAYS loved bugs, but like the charismatic ones like mantises, spiders, caterpillars, moths, wasps, pill bugs, hercules/rhinocerous beetles, katydids, and millipedes. I never thought much about grasshoppers until I saw some stunning pictures shared on your blog, and I realized just how COLOURFUL some of them are! Especially getting into their adult colors! So after marveling at the pictures I saw here I made it a point to take a photo of some of the meaty adult grasshoppers in the field next door. Some of them were big enough that when I would spook them and they'd take off flying I would momentarily mistake them for a tiny meadow bird. Shortly after I took this photo I accidentally spooked one into flying straight into my face and they were weighty enough that it made an audible THWAP sound. It was a charming day.

Thank you for running this blog!

Hi there :) The first caterpillar is a giant leopard moth - you're likely used to seeing Isabella tiger moths. Love the precious tiny centipede. And wow that IS a big ant mound. I accidentally stepped on one as a kid and boy let me tell you it was terrible. Would not recommend.

The spider is indeed a wolf! The eyes are the easiest way to distinguish them from lookalikes. Looks like possibly Tigrosa annexa. Very cute oakworm! Glad you helped them off the road, they are so small and don't know what cars are :(

Grasshoppers are wonderful! They were actually one of the first bugs I was into as a kid because we had so many in the field behind our hours. They will absolutely thwap you in the face but we'll just say that's a grasshopper kiss.

Thank you for sharing all your friends!

#animals #insects #bugs #spider #arachnids #submission #centipede #moth #caterpillar #larva #tiger moth #giant leopard moth #myriapods #wolf spider #Tigrosa annexa #Anisota #orange tipped oakworm #probably #Saturniidae #grasshopper #long post

[onenicebugperday]

@azzydoesntexist submitted: I. Found this guy in. My bathryom. Marylanmd near the. PA line.

A little wolf lady! Looks like Tigrosa annexa. I love her :)

#animals #bugs #spider #arachnids #submission #wolf spider #Tigrosa annexa

[onenicebugperday]

@permanentbart submitted: Found this spider around Pittsburgh, PA! I tried to use the putty knife I had to get a good scale but I'm not sure how well that worked

I think it worked out just fine! She looks like a super gravid wolf spider as far as I can tell. Maybe Tigrosa annexa.

#animals #bugs #spider #arachnids #submission #wolf spider #Tigrosa annexa #maybe

[onenicebugperday]

@chehukyu submitted: hi! i saw this lovely lady while out with my dogs and im pretty sure she’s got a whole bunch of babies on her back? i live in [removed] (pls remove location) if you want to id but it’s not a requirement!! she was about the size of a quarter, maybe bigger :)

Hello! She's a wolf spider, as they are the only kind that carries their babies on their backs. Most likely Tigrosa annexa :)

#submission #spider #animals #arachnids #bugs #wolf spider #Tigrosa annexa #spiderlings #congregation

[onenicebugperday]

Have a wolf spider (?) from gulf coast texas! I fished him out of the pool trap.

Sure is a wolf! My what large eyes they have. Precious. Glad they were saved from a terrible, watery fate. Looks like Tigrosa annexa!

#bugs #spider #arachnids #wolf spider #submission #Tigrosa annexa #cervitaur-in-a-hood

[onenicebugperday]

@archiedragons submitted: spider with some fat legs found in NC!

Ohhhh he must work out. Incredibly beefy legs. Obviously a wolf spider...proooobably Tigrosa annexa :)

#bugs #animals #arachnids #spider #submission #wolf spider #Tigrosa annexa

[onenicebugperday]

@disasterareacass submitted: Hi! Any chance you could ID this spider friend in the metro Atlanta, GA area for me? Thanks so much 😊

Hello! I can! It’s definitely a wolf spider, and most likely Tigrosa annexa :)

#arachnids #spider #submission #bugs #wolf spider #Tigrosa annexa